- Holst wrote his Two Songs without Words Op.22 for chamber orchestra in 1906. He conducted the first performance at the RCM the same year.
- This piece reflects the influence of the English folk song revival taking place at the time, in which Holst’s friend Ralph Vaughan Williams was a major player.
- Though the melodies in this piece sound like English folk song, they are all original melodies composed by Holst.1
Sources
- Colin Matthews, “Holst, Gustav(us Theodore von),” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed October 24, 2019, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000013252.
Cut IDs
16342