Five essential works by Holst

The Planets

Holst’s spectacular orchestral work starts with the alarming fury of ‘Mars’ and ends with the subtle colours of ‘Neptune’.

Recommended recording:
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Adrian Boult
EMI 627 8982

• The best recordings of Holst's The Planets

Hymn of Jesus

This setting for double choir and orchestra of a hymn supposedly sung by Christ and his disciples at the Last Supper is both ecstatic and other-worldly.

Recommended recording:
BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Adrian Boult
Decca 470 1912

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Seven Robert Bridges Part-Songs

Holst wrote several works for his pupils, but few are more hauntingly beautiful than these settings of Robert Bridges poems for sopranos and strings.

Recommended recording:
Holst Singers & Orchestra/Hilary Davan Wetton
Helios CDH 55170

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Egdon Heath

After the acclaim of The Planets, Holst was drawn to composing more austere works. Of those, this is his bleakest.

Recommended recording:
Royal Scottish National Orchestra/David Lloyd-Jones
Naxos 8.553696

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The Wandering Scholar

Holst's sense of humour rarely featured in his music, but surfaces here in this sure-footed chamber opera concerning a young wife’s spring-time rendezvous with a priest.

Recommended recording:
Norma Burrowes, Michael Langdon, Robert Tear; English Opera Group/Steuart Bedford
EMI 968 9292