Composed by Gustav Holst.
Full Orchestra;
Performance Music
Ensemble. Kalmus
Orchestra Library. Score.
LudwigMasters
Publications #36-A934101.
Published by
LudwigMasters
Publications
(AP.36-A934101).
ISBN
9781638879916. UPC:
676737737757.
English.
Part of
the British folk revival
of the early 20th
century, Gustav Holst's
(1874-1934) Somerset
Rhapsody consists of his
interpretations of three
English folk tunes from
the Somerset region: The
Sheep-Shearing Song, High
Germany, and True Love's
Farewell. Holst dedicated
this piece, his first
major critical success,
to Cecil Sharp, a
chronicler of English
folk music who collected
the songs that Holst
adapted. Holst intended
the cycle to tell a story
of a young couple whose
relationship is
interrupted by war.
Somerset Rhapsody
premiered in London in
April 1910.
Instrumentation:
2(2dPicc).2(1dObd'mr).2.2
: 4.2.3.1:
Timp.Perc(2-3): Str
(9-8-7-6-5 in set).
Reprint edition.
These products
are currently being
prepared by a new
publisher. While many
items are ready and will
ship on time, some others
may see delays of several
months.
Composed by Gustav Holst.
Full Orchestra;
Performance Music
Ensemble. Kalmus
Orchestra Library. Score
and Part(s).
LudwigMasters
Publications #36-A934190.
Published by
LudwigMasters
Publications
(AP.36-A934190).
UPC:
676737604493.
English.
Part of
the British folk revival
of the early 20th
century, Gustav Holst's
(1874-1934) Somerset
Rhapsody consists of his
interpretations of three
English folk tunes from
the Somerset region: The
Sheep-Shearing Song, High
Germany, and True Love's
Farewell. Holst dedicated
this piece, his first
major critical success,
to Cecil Sharp, a
chronicler of English
folk music who collected
the songs that Holst
adapted. Holst intended
the cycle to tell a story
of a young couple whose
relationship is
interrupted by war.
Somerset Rhapsody
premiered in London in
April 1910.
Instrumentation:
2(2dPicc).2(1dObd'mr).2.2
: 4.2.3.1:
Timp.Perc(2-3): Str
(9-8-7-6-5 in set).
Reprint edition.
These products
are currently being
prepared by a new
publisher. While many
items are ready and will
ship on time, some others
may see delays of several
months.
Composed by J. Curnow.
Arranged by James Curnow.
Band Music. Score and
parts. Duration 11:15.
Published by G & M Brand
Music Publishers
(CN.R10018).
The melodies in
Songs of the West differ
in styles, keys, and
tempos. The nautical
nature of the coastal
region is evident in many
of the melodies.
Gustav Holst did
not have much success in
getting his early
compositions published.
In 1905, he began a
career as a gifted
teacher when he was
appointed Director of
Music at St. Paul's Girls
School in Hammersmith. It
was also a time when he
developed the friendship
of Ralph Vaughan Williams
and the two developed an
interest in English folk
music. This became a
turning point in Holst's
style as he left behind
the heaviness of the
Wagnerian style for the
simplicity of folk
melodies. Vaughan
Williams wrote 'we were
dazzled, we wanted to
preach a new gospel, we
wanted to rhapsodise on
these tunes just as Liszt
and Grieg had done on
theirs - we simply were
fascinated by the tunes.'
Enthusiastic archivist
Cecil Sharp, of the Folk
Song Society, encouraged
Holst to write 'Two
Selections of Folk Songs'
based on material Sharp
had collected in the West
of England. Songs of the
West was the first of the
pair noted as Opus 22 was
written in 1906; A
Somerset Rhapsody was
completed the following
year. The melodies in
Songs of the West differ
in styles, keys, and
tempos. The nautical
nature of the coastal
region is evident in many
of the melodies.
Originally written for
orchestra, noted composer
James Curnow was
commissioned in 1986 to
arrange the work for
concert band.