Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was a British composer and teacher. After studying composition at London’s Royal College of Music, he spent the early part of his career playing trombone in an opera orchestra. It was not until the early 1900s that his career as a composer began to take off. Around this same time he acquired positions at both St. Paul’s Girls’ School and Morley College that he would hold until retirement, despite his rising star as a composer. His music was influenced by his interest in English folk songs and Hindu mysticism, late-Romantic era composers like Strauss and Delius, and avante-garde composers of his time like Stravinsky and Schoenberg. He is perhaps best known for composing The Planets, a massive orchestral suite that depicts the astrological character of each known planet. His works for wind band (two suites and a tone poem, Hammersmith) are foundational to the modern wind literature.
The Second Suite in F was written in 1911, but not performed until 1922. Each of its four movements uses one or more folk songs as its melodic material.
The US Marine Band performs the first movement, “March”:
“Song without Words” from the Toulouse Wind Orchestra:
The devilish “Song of the Blacksmith” by the US Coast Guard Band:
Finally, the North Texas Wind Symphony plays the “Fantasia on the Dargason” at a good, healthy tempo (I like this one fast!):
Holst largely repeated this movement in his St. Paul’s Suite for orchestra:
Holst also wrote a choral version of the “Song of the Blacksmith”:
There is also a choral version of “Song without Words”, titled “I Love My Love”:
Second Suite on Wikipedia, IMSLP, and the Wind Repertory Project.
Now about those folk tunes: the “March” begins with a “Morris Dance” that is actually “Glorishears” (an elision of “Glorious Years”) a real folk dance from Bledington; “Swansea Town” starts with the euphonium solo; “Claudy Banks” is the 6/8 section. That link leaves out the chorus, which you can find in Bob Garofalo’s great resource book, Folk Songs and Dances in Second Suite.
“Glorishears” complete with actual Morris dancing:
“Swansea Town” as presented by a folk singer:
“Claudy Banks” exists in several different melodies. The one that Holst uses is beyond my powers to find on the internet.
“Song without Words” is actually “I Love My Love” or “Maid in Bedlam” (also check out this article):
“Song of the Blacksmith” is more commonly known with a different melody, presented here:
“Fantasia on the Dargason”: The Dargason itself is an instrumental dance tune, related to popular melodies like “The Irish Washerwoman”. This movement also includes “Greensleeves“, usually a sad-sounding song, as a rather joyous interlude and a powerful climax.
Here is an actual dance session on the Dargason:
“Greensleeves” has become a Christmastime classic:
Gustavholst.info – a major web resource for information on the composer.