The third volume in Chandos' super audio series of the orchestral music of Gustav Holst presents two works where voices and instruments are combined, The Mystic Trumpeter, Op. 18, on texts by Walt Whitman, and the First Choral Symphony, on texts by John Keats. While neither composition achieved the popularity of his greatest triumph, The Planets, each is cast in a grand, post-Romantic style that is immediately accessible and appealing. The Mystic Trumpeter, a scena for soprano and orchestra, clearly shows the debt Holst ...
Read More
The third volume in Chandos' super audio series of the orchestral music of Gustav Holst presents two works where voices and instruments are combined, The Mystic Trumpeter, Op. 18, on texts by Walt Whitman, and the First Choral Symphony, on texts by John Keats. While neither composition achieved the popularity of his greatest triumph, The Planets, each is cast in a grand, post-Romantic style that is immediately accessible and appealing. The Mystic Trumpeter, a scena for soprano and orchestra, clearly shows the debt Holst owed to Richard Wagner, as well as the influence of his friend, Ralph Vaughan Williams. Its operatic form and lavish orchestration make it quite stirring, and soprano Susan Gritton sustains interest in the vocal part even when the orchestra dominates. The First Choral Symphony is much more imposing in its forces and 50-minute duration, and displays Holst's interest in English folk music and modal scales, as well as his absorption of impressionist tone colors. At times the symphony...
Read Less
