A biography of composer Gustav Holst (1874-1914).

Gustavus Theodore von Holst (he dropped the "von" in 1918) was born in Cheltenham, England, in 1874. He died in 1934, four months short of his sixtieth birthday, from a concussion suffered in a backward fall from the conductor's podium, from which he never fully recovered.. His grandfather, Gustavus von Holst of Riga, Latvia, a composer of elegant music for the harp, moved to England and became a fashionable harp teacher. Holst's father Adolph, a pianist, organist and …

…Canons (1932); and The infamous opera Wandering Scholar (1934) Holst met world famous composer Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1895 while they were students at the Royal College of Music, and the two remained lifelong friends, depending on one another for support and assistance. Holst first made a living as a trombone player however he didn't receive full recognition until he was in his forties - The Planets and Hymn to Jesus in particular helped to establish his reputation.