It is, of course, better than being completely forgotten, but often the question is whether composers who are only known for a single work would have been so happy with that. A good example is Gustav Holst (1874-1934). He studied in London at the Royal College of Music and met Vaughan Williams there. Although these two were good friends, in practice Holst had little to do with Vaughan Williams'
… ideals about typically English music. Holst's favorite composers were Wagner, Grieg, and a little bit Sullivan. Later, a genuine admiration for Bach and Purcell was added, while Holst also opened up a little more to the newer influences of the continent. Besides music, Holst had other interests, such as astrology, and that was reflected in the famous orchestral suite The planets. To the popularity of that work, Holst was commissioned by the Leeds Festival to write a large-scale choral work for the 1925 festival. The result was the Choral Symphony op.41, a work that lasts more than three quarters of an hour, somewhere between a symphony and a cantata. The whole is based on texts by Keats and includes an unabridged setting of the famous 'Ode on a Grecian urn'. The work as a whole proves how unfortunate it is that Van Holst usually only plays The planets; this is a monumental, robust piece of music that manages to hold the attention well. In addition, the Choral Fantasia op.51, written in 1930 in response to a similar invitation, is based on the Three Choirs Festival this time. At the request of the client, the organist and conductor Herbert Sumsion, the work was given a prominent part for organ, including its own solo between the first and third movements. This Choral Fantasia is a successful counterpart to the more than twice as long Choral Symphony and confirms once again that Holst is wrongly regarded as a 'single-hit' composer. (JvG)more
