#but i thought i'd try one of those more formal musicology 'here's some info on this piece y'all' posts bc i think they're cool

[musicalshards]

(C. Alan Publications)

Dances from ‘The Morning of the Year’ by Gustav Holst

arr. Geoffery Brand for Wind Orchestra (Grade 5)

“In 1927 Hoist composed the music for a 'choral ballet', [...] This interesting project was inspired by Douglas Kennedy, who provided the scenario and also arranged the traditional dances that were performed during the ballet. Hoists friend Steuart Wilson wrote the words for the choral sections of the piece. [...] In his notes for a CD that includes The Morning of the Year, as well as The Golden Goose, Raymond Head states that the Scottish composer Granville Bantock was the first to use the term 'choral ballet', and suggests that there was a conscious attempt on Hoist's part to link back to the 'Balletts' of Thomas Weelkes and Thomas Morley, which combined dance and song. The Morning of the Year has the distinction of having been the first piece of music to be commissioned by the music department of the newly formed British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC]. Its first performance was as part of a concert given at the Royal Albert Hall by the National Chorus and Orchestra, which was broadcast live, on the evening of 17 March 1927. It was sandwiched between two pieces by Arthur Honneger and the two composers each conducted their own works. The reviewer for The Times [...] wrote, 'about the only thing we can venture to say is that it is full of good tunes treated in the ingenious, reiterative style which the composer has made his own. As The Morning of the Year is really a ballet, and was, of course, given without action, and as the words of the choruses could not be heard from the other end of the Albert Hall, we came away with only a vague notion as to what it was all about, but with the feeling that we should probably enjoy it if it were given with its proper stage accompaniment. The ballet was first performed with its dances at a private concert held at the Royal College of Music on 1 June 1927. The dances were performed by members of the EFDS [English Folk Dance Society] under the leadership of Douglas Kennedy. The Times critic was more impressed by the music than the dances, although he considered the performance of the EFDS dancers to be 'very finished'. He felt, though, that 'before an art-ballet can be created out of our folk dances, a more elaborate technique will have to be evolved'. The Daily Telegraph critic was more enthusiastic, describing the outcome as 'very nearly a perfect art form', although he did concede that some aspects of the performance needed further work.89 This performance was, in effect, an open dress rehearsal for the public performance at the Scala Theatre later in the month.” (Source)

“The piece was not received well with the critics. The Daily News called the piece, "terribly confused artistically." Michael Short wrote "the 'Mating Dance' is too bland and folksy, and lacking in any sexual energy." Holst was somewhat annoyed by a report which appeared in the press after a concert, and wrote to Percy Pitt: I was sorry to read in the Evening News that I consider the new ballet my best thing since The Planets. I certainly don’t and if I did I would keep it to myself. I did tell one or two men privately that I thought it was the best thing I had written in the last two years which is a very different matter."” (Source)

This particular arrangement of ‘Dances from The Morning of the Year’ is one I’ve played myself with my university wind orchestra, but failed to find any recording of until I traced the score right back to the website it was purchased off. I thought since I found it quite a challenge to find this arrangement any any information on the piece that I could post some of my findings here for Musicblr. I myself find the piece fascinating, since when I first started rehearsing it I almost disliked the quirk and the many stripped back sections in the music, which is rare for me since I love most wind orchestra repertoire! But as rehearsals went on and I listened to the few orchestral recordings I could find, it grew on me more and more, til I was driven over six months after performing the piece and leaving it behind to go and try to discover more about it.