Page "Gustav Holst" Paragraph 7

Holst's great-grandfather, Matthias von Holst, was of Nordic origin, and came to England in 1802 from Riga, Latvia.

His son Gustavus moved to England with his parents as a child ; he became a composer of salon-style harp music and a notable harp teacher.

Holst's father, Adolph von Holst, was organist and choirmaster at All Saints ' Church in Pittville.

He also gave both piano lessons and recitals, most regularly at the Assembly Rooms.

Holst's mother, Clara Cox von Holst ( née Lediard ), who died in 1882, was a singer and pianist who bore two sons, Gustav and Emil Gottfried ( who later became Ernest Cossart, a film actor in Hollywood ).

Following his wife's death, Adolph von Holst moved with his sons to 1, Vittoria Walk, Cheltenham, and eventually married Mary Thorley Stone in 1885: she gave birth to two further sons, Matthias Ralph and Evelyn Thorley.