What was Gustav Holsts inspiration for his suite of music?
Yes, his most famous work (for orchestra) is inspired by the planets but his most famous band song is the concert band equivalent of Beethoven’s 5th (First Suite For Military Band in E flat) was made for a British Military Band and it was later made for a full concert band… That aside, Holst’s early works were influenced by Grieg, Wagner, and Richard Strauss. He also studied music in the Royal College of Music and lived during WWI so this big military style tone of music he wrote with stayed with him throughout his life. Later he moved more into the influence of Ravel, Hindu Spiritualism, and English folk tunes. This is why his music has simple but very haunting melodies where the rhythm is very off (even for today’s time). I find that it mixes tunes that sound very simple (from the folk tunes) and he expands from that giving it almost a spiritual and gypsy quality (from Hindu Spiritualism) but he followed the style of famous composers of the time, using very late romantic era sounds
