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

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

Vaughan Williams's own music was in general quite different from Holst ’ s, but he praised Holst's work abundantly and the two men developed a shared interest in exploring and maintaining the English vocal and choral tradition as found primarily in folk song, madrigals and church music.

The orchestral premiere of The Planets suite, conducted at Holst's request by Adrian Boult, was held at short notice on 29 September 1918, during the last weeks of World War I, in the Queen's Hall with the financial support of Holst's friend and fellow composer H. Balfour Gardiner It was hastily rehearsed ; the musicians of the Queen's Hall Orchestra first saw the complicated music only two hours before the performance, and the choir for " Neptune " was recruited from pupils from St Paul's Girls ' School ( where Holst taught ).

Dedicated to the late Imogen Holst, Gustav Holst's daughter, it was first performed in Manchester on 11 May 2000, with Kent Nagano conducting the Hallé Orchestra.

Holst's daughter Imogen, recorded that " At the time when he was asked to set these words to music, Holst was so over-worked and over-weary that he felt relieved to discover they ' fitted ' the tune from Jupiter ".

According to one of Holst's friends, the same apartment building where he was found dead also housed a MI6 apartment, implying that Holst was trying to reach one of his contacts.

This was intended as both a tribute to the memory of Holst and a commemoration of his birth, and the intention in performance terms was as a work to be played in the same programme as Holst's " Planets " suite-the orchestration is the same, except that no vocal forces are used.

During the years 1920 – 1923, Holst's popularity grew through the success of The Planets and The Hymn of Jesus ( 1917 ) ( based on the Apocryphal gospels ), and the publication of a new opera, The Perfect Fool ( a satire of a work by Wagner ).

Among English composers of the early-20th century there was some vogue for the use of a " bass oboe ", for example in Gustav Holst's orchestral suite The Planets ( 1916 ), as well as in several works of Frederick Delius ( A Mass of Life, 1904-1905 ; Dance Rhapsody No. 1, 1908 ), Arnold Bax's Symphony No. 1 ( 1921 ), Havergal Brian's Gothic Symphony ( 1919-1927 ) and Symphony No. 4 ( Das Siegeslied ), and supposedly in the original instrumentation of Ralph Vaughan Williams ' A London Symphony ( 1912-1913 ).

Important soloistic parts in standard band repertoire for the E clarinet include the second movement of Gustav Holst's First Suite in E-flat for Military Band ( for two E clarinets ), also his piece ' Hammersmith ' ( similarly for two E flat clarinets ), Paul Hindemith's Symphony in B-flat for Band, and Gordon Jacob's William Byrd Suite.

It made its first domestic tour in 1882, introduced educational concerts for young people in 1891, and gave the premieres of works such as Gershwin's Concerto in F and Holst's Egdon Heath.

The music was cheap and repetitive and not to Holst's liking, and he referred to this kind of work as " worming " ( a pun on Wurm's name, which means " worm " in German ) and regarded it as " criminal ".

Holst's view was that Noel's philosophy was a " gospel of comic hate ", but he ceased to hold the music festival at Thaxted after three seasons, moving it to Dulwich.

Holst's ' retirement ' was immediately productive, with the First Choral Symphony to words by Keats ( a Second Choral Symphony to words by George Meredith exists only in fragments ).

The premiere was at the Queen's Hall on 29 September 1918, conducted by Holst's friend Adrian Boult before an invited audience of about 250 people.

Holst's use of orchestration was very imaginative and colourful, showing the influence of Arnold Schoenberg and other continental composers of the day rather than his English predecessors.

Holst's original title ( clearly seen on the handwritten full score ) was " Seven Pieces for Large Orchestra ".

Although commonplace today, the effect bewitched audiences in the era before widespread recorded sound — after the initial 1918 run-through, Holst's daughter Imogen ( in addition to watching the charwomen dancing in the aisles during " Jupiter ") remarked that the ending was " unforgettable, with its hidden chorus of women's voices growing fainter and fainter ... until the imagination knew no difference between sound and silence ".

Pluto was discovered in 1930, four years before Holst's death, and was hailed by astronomers as the ninth planet.

* Piano duet ( four hands ) – An engraved copy of Holst's own piano duet arrangement was found by John York.

Dave Edmunds ' band Love Sculpture included the Mars movement on their 1970 album " Forms and Feelings ," though this was only included in the U. S. version of the album due to Holst's family preventing worldwide release of the track.

Permission to use pieces was sometimes denied by the composer's family or estate, as for instance with Gustav Holst's Mars, the Bringer of War.

Meyer's original plan for the score was to adapt Gustav Holst's orchestral suite The Planets.

During the first two decades of the 20th century, musical society as a whole ( and Holst's friend Vaughan Williams in particular ) became interested in old English folksongs, madrigal singers, and Tudor composers.

* " Mercury, the Winged Messenger ", a movement in Gustav Holst's The Planets

The euphonium is featured in a few late Romantic and 20th century works, usually playing parts marked " tenor tuba ", including Gustav Holst's The Planets, and Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben.

* Venus, the Bringer of Peace, from Gustav Holst's The Planets

This last concert is devoted to Gustav Holst's The Planets.

* Gustav Holst's Fugal Concerto for flute, oboe and string orchestra

A well-known use of col legno for orchestral strings is the Gustav Holst's " Mars " movement from The Planets suite.

* Gustav Holst's " Hymn to Dionysus " ( Op.

These included Phase 4 Stereo recordings of Gustav Holst's The Planets and Charles Ives's 2nd Symphony, as well as an album entitled " The Impressionists " ( music by Satie, Debussy, Ravel, Fauré and Honegger ) and another entitled " The Four Faces of Jazz " ( works by Weill, Gershwin, Stravinsky and Milhaud ).

Also, from October 1969 to the song's last performance in May 1975 at the Earl's court shows, the violin solo and the solo section after would incorporate " Mars " from Gustav Holst's suite The Planets, accompanied by Plant's vocalisations.

:: Stage 5: Violin bow episode including echo-slapping from the guitar ; interlude with Plant's ' instrumental voice '; Gustav Holst's Mars, the Bringer of War and return of the rhythm section

The first notable and influential original symphonic work for band was Gustav Holst's First Suite in E-Flat, written in 1909.

The Air Force Song and " Jupiter " from Gustav Holst's orchestral suite The Planets are also included, based on their use in The Right Stuff.

The intro of " Prelude to Madness " features keyboards and guitar playing " Mars, the Bringer of War " from Gustav Holst's suite, The Planets.

The longest track on the album is a chaotic instrumental piece called " The Devil ’ s Triangle ", which was built around quotations from Gustav Holst's " Mars: Bringer of War " from his The Planets Suite.

Mann's interest in English 20th century classical music saw him adapt Gustav Holst's Planets Suite, garnering an unlikely UK hit with a version of the " Jupiter " movement, with lyrics added, entitled Joybringer ( included on the 1973 album Solar Fire ).

The theme music used was " Mars, Bringer of War " from Gustav Holst's The Planets.

* On the DVD Menu, the music played in the background involves themes from Gustav Holst's Jupiter from The Planets Suite.

It also figures prominently in several movements of Gustav Holst's The Planets.

Prior to the mid-20th century, the term " bass flute " was sometimes used, especially in Great Britain, to refer to the alto flute instead ( for example: the part for " bass flute in G " in Gustav Holst's The Planets ).

With composer Colin Matthews she edited scholarly editions of her father's works ( including four volumes of facsimiles ) and compiled A Thematic Catalogue of Gustav Holst's Music ( 1974 ).