Second Suite in F for Military Band

"founded on old English Country tunes" - Holst

Composer: Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
Composed in 1911 Published 1922
Premiered in 6/30/1922 by the Royal Military School of Music Band, published soon after

I. March
ternary form - ABA
homophony - describes the texture of a musical passage in which one voice leads melodically with a chordal accompaniment
Morris Dance - a traditional folk dance. The tune Holst used is Glorishears
Swansea Town - Named for a Welsh coastal town, this sprightly sea chantey is sung by a sailor departing on a
long voyage across the ocean who hopes to return to "old Swansea Town once more."
Claudy Banks - Tells the story of a man who, while walking along the banks of the Claudy river, encounters a
young women who is lamenting over her true love, Johnny, who has gone off to war.
With a few minor exceptions, Holst stays very true to the original published versions of these tunes.

II. Song Without Words - "I'll Love my Love"

F dorian - (Eb key, starting on F - F G Ab Bb C D Eb F)
strophic form - song for in which all stanzas of the text are sung to the same music; for example a hymn.
A Cornish fold song. According to Frederick Fennell, "Cornwall is located at the very southern and western tip of
England at Land's End. The maritime locale is the source for the words and they the reason who a song of love is
cast in the Dorian mode and set in the dark key of F minor. Sad words are sung in six verses by a young maiden
driven into Bedlam (hospital for the mentally ill) in grief over her lover's having been sent to sea by his parents to
prevent their marriage. Holst has captured the pathos and heartbreak of the unhappy situation in one of the
band's rare pieces on the quiet and tender side."
A broad as I was walking, one evening in the spring.
I heard a maid in Bedlam so sweetly for to sing;
Her chains she rattled with her hands, and thus replied she:
I love my love because I know my love loves me!
III. "Song of the Blacksmith"
Kang kang kang ki ki kang
kang kang ki ki kang kang

For the blacksmith courted me, nine months and better,

And first he won my heart,till he wrote me a letter.
With his hammer in his hand, for he strikes so mighty and clever,
He makes the sparks to fly all round his middle.
Portrays a vivid image of the blacksmith - "a brawny man, drenched in perspiration, clad in heavy dark clothes
fronted by a leather apron to deflect the sparks (Fennell)."

IV. Fantasia on the "Dargason"

fantasia - a composition in which the composer's "free flight of fancy" determines the form, style, and so on.
Dargason - Old English folk tune was used from the 16th century onwards for a country dance. It ends on the
fifth of the key, producing a melody that seems to be never ending. There are 25 statements of the Dargason.
Greensleeves - This folk song is one of the oldest English tunes in existence today.