Second Suite - Holst Assignment

Wind Symphony Assignment
“Second Suite” by Gustav Holst

Due Tuesday February 13th – 3rd Period
*Read the article on “Second Suite”. Print out page four and answer the eleven questions.
“Second Suite in F for Military Band” by Gustav Holst

The "Second Suite in F for Military Band" (Op. 28, No. 2) is Gustav Holst's second and
last suite for band. Although performed somewhat less frequently than the First Suite in
Eb, it is still a staple of the band literature. The Second Suite is also longer and more
difficult, in terms of playing, than its sister suite.
During Holst's earlier years as a composer, he took interest, as did many other English
composers at the time, in writing pieces based on folk music. His contemporary Ralph
Vaughan Williams had written his English Folk Song Suite, all based on English folk
tunes. (*The FHS Wind Symphony performed “EFSS” last spring!) Holst followed suit
and composed the Second Suite as a result. Six tunes are compressed into the four
movements of the suite, each with their own character.
The Second Suite consists of four movements, all based on specific English folk songs.
Movement I: "March: Morris dance, Swansea Town, Claudy Banks"
The “March” of the Second Suite begins with a simple five note motif in the low brass
and high woodwinds. Then the first folk tune is heard in the form of a traditional British
Brass Band march. After a brief climax with the entire band playing at the same time, the
second strain begins with a glorious euphonium solo. With a steady pulse set by the tuba,
the euphonium plays the second folk tune in the suite. The band again regroups and plays
the final repeat of the theme before the trio. After a final “F” chord, Holst modulates to
the sub-dominant minor, or B-flat minor (usually one would modulate to B-flat major).
The third theme, called “Claudy Banks”, is heard in a mid-low woodwind soli. Then the
entire band is, for a third time, let loose for a huge climax at the end of the trio. Then the
entire piece to the Fine is repeated da capo.
Holst also set Swansea Town for TTBB and SATB chorus. Here are part of the the
original’s lyrics:
Oh farewell to you my Nancy, ten thousand times adieu;

I'm bound to cross the ocean, girl, once more to part from you.
Once more to part from you, fine girl, you're the girl that I adore.
But still I live in hopes to see old Swansea town once more.
(Chorus)
Old Swansea town once more, fine girl, you're the girl that I adore.
But still I live in hopes to see old Swansea town once more.
There are many word and tune variants for “Claudy Banks”. The tune is that of the hymn
"Kingsfold", and in Ireland it is called "The Star of the County Down". Pretty much the
subject matter is of love and similar “Swansea Town”.
Holst defied the regular format of a suite by placing the March first – it is usually
reserved as a finale, as in his First Suite.
Movement II: "Song Without Words, 'I'll Love My Love'"
The second movement is a huge contrast in transition from the quick March. It begins
very quietly, and mournfully. An oboe/clarinet solo swims around the rest of the band’s
accompaniment, and is joined by the flute, and trumpet.
The folk-song it is based on depicts the story of a woman waiting for her lover to return.
It is a very moody, depressing piece, but that all changes when the third movement bursts
in. Like Swansea Town and Song of the Blacksmith, Holst made an SATB choral
arrangement (I Love My Love) of the tune. Here are part of the original’s lyrics:
Abroad I was walking

One morning in the Spring,
I heard a maid in Bedlam
So sweetly she did sing;
Her chains she rattled in her hands,
And always so sang she.
Chorus:
I love my love
Because I know he first loved me
Movement III: "Song of the Blacksmith"
After the quiet, depressing “Song Without Words”, a jovial, happy melody starts with the
brass section – there are many changes in meter (4/4, 3/4) which add to the subtle
complexity of the piece. It is a short, very short movement, and is perhaps forgotten
amongst the March, and the Fantasia. The upper-woodwinds join on the melody around
the body of the piece, and is accompanied with the sound of a blacksmith tempering
metal. The final chord is a glorious, heavenly sound, which opens way to the final
movement. Holst made a choral arrangement (TTBB and SATB) of this setting, using the
words "Kang" and "Ki-Ki" to imitate the blacksmith's hammer strokes.
Movement IV: "Fantasia on the Dargason"
The finale of the Second Suite in F opens with an alto saxophone solo of the Irish jig,
"Irish Washerwoman". This same phrase is repeated throughout the entire song, with
varying instrumentation. At several points during the movement, the melodies of
Greensleeves is heard broadening into the room with the glorious euphonium solo, where
both tunes are heard simultaneously with various instrumentations, including the climax
of the movement, which has the euphonium and trumpets blaring out the somewhat
unrecognizable theme of Greensleeves. It is this wistful ending that is just right for the
suite. In fact, he liked it so much that he used the finale as the conclusion to his “St.
Paul's Suite” for strings. In the closing measures of the composition the instrumentation
dies down once the counter-melody ceases, and is soon nothing but a quiet, quirky tuba
and piccolo duet, with one final F Major chord.
Name:____________________________
*After reading the history of the composition please answer the following questions:
1. How many suites for band did Holst write?
2. How many English folk songs are fit into the four movements of the suite?
3. List the three songs of the first movement:
4. What is the form of the first folk tune?
5. At the end of “Swansea Town” what is unique about the modulation of the
music?
6. Holst defied the regular format of a suite by doing what?
7. What is the mood and subject matter of the second movement?
8. What was unique about the vocal arrangement that Holst made of the third
movement?
9. The author describes the last chord of the third movement as what?
10. What famous Irish jig starts the fourth movement?
11. What chord ends the composition?

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Wind Symphony Assignment

“Second Suite” by Gustav Holst

“Second Suite in F for Military Band” by Gustav Holst

Movement I: "March: Morris dance, Swansea Town, Claudy Banks"

Oh farewell to you my Nancy, ten thousand times adieu;

Movement II: "Song Without Words, 'I'll Love My Love'"

Abroad I was walking

Movement IV: "Fantasia on the Dargason"

1. How many suites for band did Holst write?

3. List the three songs of the first movement:

4. What is the form of the first folk tune?

6. Holst defied the regular format of a suite by doing what?

7. What is the mood and subject matter of the second movement?

10. What famous Irish jig starts the fourth movement?

11. What chord ends the composition?

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