From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia First Suite in E-flat for Military Band
First Suite in E-flat for Military Band
The "First Suite in E-flat for Military Band" (Op. 28, No. instrumentation from one band to the next. To address
1) is considered one of the cornerstone masterworks in this problem, Holst scored the suite for 19 instruments,
the concert band repertoire. Officially premiered in 1920 with 17 remaining parts labeled "ad-lib," meaning they
at the Royal Military School of Music, the manuscript was were unnecessary for performance. Given that most Bri-
originally completed in 1909 by British composer Gus- tish military bands of the day employed between 20 and
tav Holst. Along with the subsequent "Second Suite in 30 musicians, the 19 required parts could reasonably be
F for Military Band," written in 1911 and premiered in expected to be covered, and the remaining parts could be
1922, the First Suite was the catalyzing force that con- added or discarded as needed without disturbing the in-
vinced many other prominent composers that serious tegrity of the work.
music could be written specifically for the combination
of winds, percussion and brass. Works such as the English
Folk Song Suite (1923) of Ralph Vaughan Williams and
Structure
the William Byrd Suite (1923) of Gordon Jacob are leading The First Suite has three movements, each with its own
examples. character and form. It is not apparent from the score, but
Remarkably, the Suite in E-flat was actually Holst’s Holst let it be known that the three movements should
first composition written for military band. Frederick follow each other without a break. The complete compo-
Fennell, in Time and the Winds, observes that Holst’s sition is based upon a 8-measure melody reminiscent of
scoring for the work is so well conceived and organized English folk song; however, the tune is original to Holst.
for the band medium, that he must have had some pre- Most notably, the theme statement that initiates the
vious experiences with groups of this kind. Indeed, Holst first movement is developed throughout each move-
was himself a formidable trombonist, having already per- ment. Its variations range in style from lyrical to playful-
formed several seasons with the Scottish Orchestra prior ly rhythmic to ornamentally embellished.
to the composition of the suite. In addition, while still
in college, he performed during the summers with var- Movement 1: "Chaconne"
ious seaside bands, and was admittedly unsatisfied with This movement, in 3/4 time, is based upon an 8-measure
the music that those ensembles performed. Even though melody initiated by the low brass which repeats sixteen
these experiences likely contributed to the composition times throughout the piece. The rhythm of the theme
of the suite, there is no recorded commission for the with its half note-quarter note and quarter note-half
work, so the true reason for Holst’s writing of the suite is note rhythm is believed to be based upon medieval Eng-
still unknown. lish carols; the "Agincourt Song" from 1415 in particular
The majority of music played by British military it bears a strong resemblance.
bands around the turn of the 20th century consisted of Holst uses many colorful effects to vary the chaconne
popular music and orchestral transcriptions. It was dur- theme. These include "band hits" (synonymous with the
ing this time that the British Military band tradition was popular term "orchestra hits") in the brass and percus-
at its peak, and the term "military band" was being ap- sion outlining the notes of the theme while the wood-
plied to any ensemble that incorporated winds, brass and winds play virtuosic sixteenth-note runs. The whole pas-
percussion.This included civilian bands organized by lo- sage is marked brilliante or "brilliantly." Exactly following
cal police and fire brigades, and even industrial firms. this is a famous low brass excerpt where they play an
Unfortunately, no serious music had yet been composed eighth-note line based again on the notes of the theme.
specifically for the band medium, and there was no stan- This section is marked pesante or "heavily" which sharply
dardized instrumentation. The lack of a set instrumenta- contrasts with the material directly before.
tion was a major obstacle for composers, in addition to Following this are more interesting variations using
the pervasive belief that an ensemble of assorted wind mostly combinations of solo instruments including a solo
instruments lacked the tonal cohesiveness to produced horn, duet between flute and oboe, and solo alto saxo-
significant music. This is where the First Suite set itself phone. This section eventually develops into a minor key.
apart. Two of the repetitions, the tenth and eleventh, are
In addition to being a serious work written for band, an inversion of the theme. Here the mood changes dras-
the suite was perfectly tailored to handle the inherent tically with a funeral march like feel with the dynamics
challenges of the military band due to its ingenious or- exceptionally soft. The bass drum and tuba emphasize a
chestration. As stated above, there was no standarized
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia First Suite in E-flat for Military Band
hemiola rhythm while a solo euphonium plays the inver- woodwinds playing the first melody and variations of it.
sion in a minor key. The twelfth, the theme played a third The last few bars are very powerful (marked ffff) and have
higher, is a famous trombone soli that hints at Holst’s one of the most famous trombone solis in the band reper-
earlier years as a trombone player. Then a crescendo poco toire.
a poco extends over two more repetitions of the theme.
At the height of the crescendo, more hemiola in the brass
and saxophones is used to heighten the harmonic inter-
Instrumentation and Standard
est. Editions
The climax is at the top of the crescendo with the
theme being stated in almost all of the low instruments. 1909 Autograph Manuscript
The higher instruments play soaring counterpoint lines,
The original manuscript, completed in 1909, is housed at
all of which is marked ff. The final repetition, stated in
the British Library in London. The shelf listing is as fol-
the trombones and low trumpets/cornets (an unusual
lows:
combination for its day) is transposed up a fifth, chro-
matically altered, and extended. The movement ends
Add. MS 47824. GUSTAV HOLST COLLECTION. Vol.
with the trombones and trumpets/cornets playing
XXI (ff. 37). First Suite in E flat for military band,
against the rest of the band playing on beats one and two
op. 28, no. 1, consisting of Chaconne, Intermezzo
while the rest of the band is striking sustained chords on
and March. [1909.] Full score. Autograph. With var-
the third of each measure. Holst, in the final chord, in-
ious notes on f.1 relating to ad lib. parts, etc. Pub-
terestingly drops out all of the bass voices from the band
lished by Boosey & Co., 1921, in Boosey’s Military
leaving a very brilliant sounding chord with high concert
Journal, 142nd Series, No. 2. [I. Holst, no. 105.]
B-flats in the flutes, piccolos, and trumpets/cornets. This
powerful coda is difficult to play well, but has very high The original title of the suite was simply "Suite in Eb
emotional impact when it is. for Military Band" by Gustav von Holst. Holst’s birth-
name had actually been Gustavus Theodore von Holst (he
Movement 2: "Intermezzo" had German, Russian, Latvian and Swedish forebears, al-
Nearly all of this movement is devoted to a rhythmic though his great-great grandfather had emigrated to the
and well-articulated oboe, clarinet and cornet soli. The UK in 1802). He changed his name to Gustav Holst dur-
exploitation of wind band tone colour combinations fla- ing World War 1 (when German names were unpopular)
vor this movement. While the movement is predomi- so that he could be appointed as a volunteer YMCA Music
nantly light in character, the clarinet has a stirring solo, Organizer. (The British royal family changed their name
which is later repeated by other voices. Then, the eupho- from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor for a similar rea-
nium takes us back to the first theme. Finally the second son.) According to the title page of the manuscript, "Suite
theme is played in a major key while the upper wood- in Eb" is scribbled over, with "First Suite in Eb" written
winds play their virtuosic sixteenth notes, and diminish- underneath and also above and to the right of the origi-
es to the lowest possible volume. nal title.
In 1921 Boosey & Co. published the parts and a con-
Movement 3: "March" densed piano score for the suite. It was common practice
The march is usually played at a march tempo, although at this time to not include a full instrumental score.
many recordings use a faster tempo. It opens with a fa-
mous bass drum solo, one of the few in the band liter- 1948 Boosey and Hawkes Full Score
ature. It features two primary melodies both very con- The 1948 edition of the First Suite in E-flat was the first
trasting in style. since the original Boosey & Co. publication of 1921. With
The first melody is featured exclusively in the brass developments in instrumentation in the United States
section in a very marcato manner. The second melody in during the two decades following the original published
the mid-low woodwinds, and later the euphonium, bari- version, there were calls for a newer, more accessible edi-
tone saxophone, and bassoon, resembles the melodies of tion. The growing popularity of public school band con-
the first two movements and is played in a very legato tests resulted in American bands incorporating a wide ar-
and lyrical style. Following the completion of the second ray of instruments such as the alto and contrabass clar-
melody, strains of the first melody and the first four bars inets, and the baritone and bass saxophones. With more
can be heard as the movement builds up to the finale. and more bands employing these larger forces, the origi-
The finale of the march features both melodies lay- nal version of the First Suite could be not be performed as
ered on top of one another in a musical technique called written. In addition, the 1921 edition only had a reduced
"simultaneous recapitulation": nearly all the brass play- piano score, and by this time the manuscript had been
ing the second melody in a majestic march style, with the lost. Albert Austin Harding, long time Director of Bands
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia First Suite in E-flat for Military Band
at Illinois University, suggested that the First Suite be composer Colin Matthews, with the assistance of Imogen
revised to accommodate the growing number of Ameri- Holst and Frederick Fennell. This new edition was pub-
can bands and their modern instrumentation. To facili- lished in 1984 by Boosey & Hawkes.
tate this, a new full score based on the original published Matthews knew that a complete return to the scoring
parts was produced by Boosey & Hawkes. Multiple errors of the manuscript would once again limit the accessibil-
are found in the score that are not shown in the original ity of the work, particularly in the United States, where
parts. American bands are still to this day typically larger than
This new edition contained several modifications. their British counterparts. In the introduction to the re-
First, the flute and piccolo, originally keyed in Db, were vised score, Matthews states:
changed to the key of C, as this was becoming increas-
ingly popular. Next, the Bb baritone part was discarded. “Since the composition of military bands and wind
In 1921, at a conference of the Directors of Music of the bands in general has changed since 1909, this new
Navy, Army and Air Force, held at Kneller Hall, it was de- edition of the score does not attempt to go back
cided that the B-flat tenor saxophone would officially re- wholly to the original manuscript… The second pair
place the B-flat baritone. H. E. Adkins states that this was of trumpets and the baritone have been omitted
due to baritone’s “lack of character and its ineffective- entirely, while the added baritone and bass sax-
ness.” ophones have been retained (with some emenda-
In addition to the removal of the baritone, the string tions). The additional parts for alto and contrabass
bass was also omitted. At this time, it isn’t known why the clarinets and flügelhorns have been omitted... The
string bass was removed, although it may be that school omission of the baritone has allowed the euphoni-
bands just did not incorporate it, as is largely the case um part to be expanded, most notably in the Inter-
even today. It may also be that since the string bass was mezzo after letter D, and at the beginning of the Fi-
marked ad lib by Holst that Boosey & Hawkes did not feel nale, where it doubles the 1st cornet at the lower oc-
the need to include it. However, this is also not known at tave.”
this time. Instruments added to the score included the E-
flat alto clarinet, the E-flat baritone and B-flat bass sax- Matthews also makes modifications to the cornets, trum-
ophones, B-flat contrabass clarinet, and a set of flügel- pets and horns. He writes:
horns.
“Particular care has been taken to ‘cover’ ad lib
parts. Since in the original manuscript all the trum-
1984 Boosey and Hawkes Revised Edi-
pets were ad lib, the omission of the second pair
tion (Ed. Colin Matthews) has not left any serious gaps: indeed the opportu-
Sometime after the publication of the 1921 edition, the nity has been taken to fill one or two that Holst
original manuscript was lost. As a result, the only full himself left (in the Finale at letter C, for example).
score available of the First Suite was from 1948 edition, Three cornets are essential, but the parts have been
and many conductors struggled with the peculiarities adjusted, since Holst, when writing for cornets in
contained therein. It was well known which instruments three parts tended to write for two second cornets
were additions to the original, but because the 1921 score (at the end of the first movement and the Finale
was only a piano reduction, Holst’s original intentions re- the fourth cornet is optional). In the same way he
mained unclear. Then, in 1974, the original manuscript was occasionally careless about the disposition of
was discovered. Frederick Fennell, in a reprint of his 1975 his four horn parts, and these are now organized so
article discussing the suite, states: that the third and fourth may safely be omitted.”
“Shortly after this initial piece in our Basic Band The three standard versions’ instrumentations are listed
Repertory series was published, the manuscript of below side by side for comparison.
the Suite in Eb for Military Band surfaced for the
first time. The full score always existed and it could 1909 Auto- 1948 Boosey 1984 Boosey
have answered all the questions which were raised graph and Co. Full and Hawkes
in my initial study and in the minds of other con- Manuscript Score Revised Edi-
ductors whose pursuits of definite answers in this Woodwinds Woodwinds tion (Ed. Colin
has been an equal frustration.” Flute/Piccolo Flute/ Matthews)
in D-flat Piccolo in C Woodwinds
Among the questions raised were those concerning the
Piccolo in C
scoring discrepancies associated with the alto clarinet 2 Oboes (ad
and baritone saxophone. In light of these realizations, a lib) Flute in C
new, revised score was subsequently prepared by English
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia First Suite in E-flat for Military Band
2 Clarinets in Flute/ 2 Oboes form of the 4 Horns in Euphonium
E-flat 2nd ad Piccolo in (2nd ad lib) Tuba) E-flat in B-flat
lib) D-flat (though the
2 Clarinets Percussion parts are in Tuba
Solo Clarinet 2 Oboes in E-flat Timpani (ad F)
in B-flat (2nd ad lib) lib) Percussion
2 Clarinets 2 Tenor Timpani (ad
3 Clarinets in in E-flat Solo Snare Drum Trombones lib)
B-flat (first Clarinet in
ripieno) Solo B-flat Bass Drum Bass Snare Drum
Clarinet in Trombone
Bass Clarinet B-flat 3 Clarinets Cymbals Bass Drum
in B-flat (ad in B-flat Baritone in
3 Clarinets Triangle Cymbals
lib) B-flat
in B-flat Bass (Euphonium
Tambourine Suspended
2 Bassoons Clarinet in part in
Alto Cymbal
(2nd ad lib) B-flat (ad Strings Treble Clef)
Clarinet in lib) Double Bass Triangle
Alto E-flat Euphonium
(ad lib)
Saxophone 2 Bassoons Tambourine
in E-flat(ad Bass (2nd ad lib) "Basses"
lib) Clarinet in (Tuba and Strings
B-flat Alto Double Double Bass
Tenor Saxophone Basses) (ad lib)
Saxophone Contrabass in E-flat
in B-flat (ad Clarinet in Percussion Not In Score but
lib) B-flat Tenor Timpani Included set for
Saxophone convenience
Brass 2 Bassoons in B-flat Snare Drum (all ad lib)
2 Cornets in
Alto Baritone Bass Drum
B-flat Eb Alto
Saxophone Saxophone Clarinet
2 Trumpets in E-flat in E-flat (ad Cymbals
in E-flat (ad lib) Bb Contra
Tenor Triangle
lib) Bass
Saxophone Bass
Tambourine Clarinet
4 Horns in F in B-flat Saxophone
in B-flat (ad Bb
4 Horns in E- Baritone
lib) Flugelhorns
flat (ad lib) Saxophone
1&2
in E-flat Brass
Baritone Solo Cornet
Horn in B- Bass
in B-flat
flat (ad lib) Saxophone Other band works by Gustav
in B-flat
3 Tenor
2 Cornets in
B-flat
Holst
Trombones Brass
• Hammersmith
(2nd ad lib) 2 Cornets in 2 Trumpets • A Moorside Suite (for brass band)
B-flat (1st in B-flat (ad • Three Folk Tunes
Bass called lib) • The Praise of King Olaf (for choir and military band)
Trombone "Solo")
• Marching Song (transcription from Two Songs Without
4 Horns in F
Euphonium 2 Trumpets Words)
(3rd and
in B-flat in B-flat • Bach’s Fugue à la Gigue transcribed for military band
4th ad lib)
(It was actually scored as a test piece for
Bombardons 2 3 Hammersmith.)
(an early Flugelhorns Trombones • Second Suite in F
(3rd ad lib)
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia First Suite in E-flat for Military Band
References • Wind Repertory Project. First Suite in E-flat
• Udell, Budd (1982). "Standard Works for Band:
Gustav Holst’s First Suite in E? Major for Military
External links
Band." Music Educators Journal, 69 (4):28 (JSTOR • First Suite in E-flat for Military Band: Free scores at
subscription access) the International Music Score Library Project.
• Khalili, Esmail. Gustav Holst’s Suite in E-flat, Op. 28a:
A Comparative Analysis of the Original Manuscript
and Later Editions
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flat_for_Military_Band&oldid=452490924"
Categories:
• Compositions by Gustav Holst
• Concert band pieces
• 1909 compositions
• Suites
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