# Holst: "A Moorside Suite" for Strings



## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

Hi All

I've been trying to track down sheet music for Holst's "A Moorside Suite" for string orchestra.

It's clear he wrote a String Orchestra version, it's not clear whether it was originally written for strings, then adapted for brass, and then later released, or what.

It does sound great (IMO better) on strings.

There's a Philip Lane arrangement for strings, but he took the brass score as a source, and it's been transposed down a tone which IMO wrecks the feel (makes it sound a bit less cheery).

I found one place which advertises the piece (C Alan), and have ordered it through them, but they list it as coming from G&M Brand who don't list it in their catalog, so I'm expecting to be disappointed which is so often unfortunately the case when it comes to sheet music for Strings.

Does anyone have any interesting tidbits of information about this piece, or its history.

Even better anyone know where I can get the score? It's not on IMSLP, and before you say anything, Holst died in 1934 (same year as Elgar, a bad year!) so it's all public domain now.

thanks

Adrien


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Are you sure the entire suite was written for strings? In his composition list it only lists the Nocturne as for string orchestra, the suite is identified as a band work.

If you follow the footnote link at the bottom of the page (which goes to this page) the recording of his military band music, part of the notes read as follows:



> and Holst's own uncompleted re-scoring for military band of his A Moorside Suite, originally written for brass band.


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

If you go to C. Alan publications you can see previews of the work (all 3 movts), and they list Holst as also the arranger in 1932. The original piece was published 4 years earlier.

http://c-alanpublications.com/moorside-suite-for-string-orchestra-holst/

Note in the above link, the cover page calls it arr by Wright, but if you look in the preview it's the Holst version for strings. Wright did a concert band version.

There are also recordings on Naxos (English String Minatures vol 4). The Philip Lane arrangement is also recorded on this series (Vol 6). Naxos's site has very little information on this.

Interestingly one comment comes from Philip Lane himself when talking about what led him to do his arrangement.

http://www.goodmusicpublishing.co.uk/info/default.aspx?id=GMCL139

Maybe I'll wait til that arrives and bump it back up the tone. I'm a bit loth to do my own arrangement (been doing too many of those lately), it's well worth the money if there's a Holst original arrangement available.


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

On the topic of Wright doing the concert band version. This is where it gets very confusing.

In the G&M Brand page for the work, they list Wright as the arranger. If you look in their preview of the score, it lists "arr Denis Wright", and is for concert band. If Holst originally wrote the piece for Brass band, then why was this necessary? Or maybe I'm ignorant of the difference between brass band and concert band. Maybe that's it.

Many of the recordings of the concert band version on youtube list Wright as the arranger.

According to the notes in the score on G&M Brand's site, the "transcription" (c.f. arrangement) was done by Wright during or shortly after Holst's lifetime, but only published in 1983. A very long time afterwards. Apparently the British Library has some fragments of an unfinished version for "Military Band" also.

There were also full orchestral arrangements of it.

In any case, Philip Lane's comment on the Good Music publishing site is at odds with other places.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Apart from that nocturne I can't find any evidence of it being arranged for orchestra or strings by Holst - perhaps by others. It seems he wrote it for a brass band and re-orchestrating for a military band would have included the woodwind sections they include (saxes, bassoons, clarinets, flutes and piccolos, or at least clarinets, flutes, piccolos and sometimes a glockenspiel). A military band is more like a 'wind orchestra' than a brass band.


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

Me neither, except for that preview on the C. Alan site.









Indicating "Arranged by the composer". this is from a G&M Brand publication, and even they seem confused about it on their website. It's like the Bermuda Triangle.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

adrien said:


> Me neither, except for that preview on the C. Alan site.
> 
> View attachment 96566
> 
> ...


That's weird. I wonder if they made a mistake, or perhaps they just have access to more information?


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

Hard to say. I guess we can take that image as G&M Brand assertion that there is an arrangement by the composer.

I messaged them directly about it, maybe they can shed some light.

The previews show all 3 movts as well.

Looks like there's a lot of conflicting / confused information around about this particular work, the more sites you look at the more different info you find. Hard to know what is true / accurate.

Also my original assertion about how much the music is transposed was incorrect. The brass band version is a 3rd below the string orchestra version in that preview. In that preview the violins go down to the bottom G, so presumably what happened is the Brass Band version came first, and the String version had to bump it up a 3rd to be playable on the violin's range.

Not sure what Philip Lane's version did there, since his is a tone below (only a tone up from the Brass band version).

the concert band version is in the same key as the brass band (phew!)

A bunch of the sites (e.g. sheetmusicplus) list the piece as being composed by D Wright, whereas it's Holst. D. Wright was the arranger for the concert band version.

So maybe I won't be so unhappy with my Philip Lane arrangement when it arrives.


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

The plot thickens on this one.

I'm yet to receive a definitive answer from G&M Brand although I did get an initial response.

I'm now aware of several arrangers who claim that Holst did a string version.

Phillip Brookes: in https://repertoire-explorer.musikmph.de/en/product/holst-gustav-19/ states


> "Holst did arrange the suite for strings, though he never published it."


Philip Lane: in http://www.boosey.com/shop/prod/Moorside-Suite-arr-string-orchestra-score-only/2069726 states


> "Holst had intended it originally for strings as something for the Junior Orchestra at St Paul's Girls School to match the St Paul's Suite written earlier for the Senior Orchestra. Even scaled down in difficulty from what appears in the brass band version it was beyond the capabilities of the 'juniors' so the Brook Green Suite was written for them instead. Holst's original string version was subsequently published..."


I have an order in via Sheet Music Plus (my C. Alan order was rejected because I don't live in the US or Canada.. .sigh). And an ongoing argument with SMP support over the labelling of the product, as they are unwilling (possibly unable) to verify what the product actually is, so I'll have to wait until I receive it before figuring out whether I can use it or not. Their returns policy which they so helpfully reiterated to me does not excite me.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

This quote:


> "Holst had *intended it originally for strings* as something for the Junior Orchestra at St Paul's Girls School to match the St Paul's Suite written earlier for the Senior Orchestra. Even *scaled down in difficulty from what appears in the brass band version* it was beyond the capabilities of the 'juniors' so the Brook Green Suite was written for them instead. *Holst's original string version* was subsequently published..."


is inconsistent. It surely can't be 'intended for strings' and be an 'original' string version if there was already an existing brass band version!

I'm pretty much convinced that it was a brass band composition and then an unfinished string transcription (with only the nocturne completed).


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

Yes, I have to agree that I believe it originally was for Brass Band. Even though a liberal interpretation of the second phrase you highlighted could be that the Brass Band version later appeared (it was the first to be seen in public but that doesn't mean he didn't try out the string version at the school beforehand)

But I think the balance of the evidence points to it being a specific commission for the contest rather than an adaptation for it. As to whether Holst did an arrangement of the other movements, it's proving frustrating trying to find that out. Trying to track down Philip Lane to see if he has any more pointers. I'd love to know where those guys got their information from. I've ordered the so-called definitive biography of Holst from the Book Repository, hopefully that will also shed some light.

Maybe I should just see a shrink about my obsessions 

I've transcribed the Scherzo into Sibelius if I need to do my own arrangement, but I'd really rather not. The more I read about Philip Lane however the better I feel about being hopefully satisfied with his arrangements.

I've purchased some arrangements of pieces which have been frankly awful. It's hard to know beforehand if there's no recording available of the arrangement or preview.


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

OK, looks like it's clear that Holst did an arrangement for strings.

Holst archives are at the Britten and Pears Foundation, who have an online-searchable catalog.

http://www.bpfcatalogue.org/view/322277

That archive also refers to the G&M Brand publication

http://www.bpfcatalogue.org/view/321076

unfortunately it looks like you have to go there to look at anything.

Adrien


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Nice detective work. I might even update the Holst wikipedia page to reflect this because it makes no mention if it.


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

I'm surprised that Holst did a complete arrangement for strings of A Moorside Suite. His daughter's Lyrita LP of her father's music issued in the 60s stated on the sleeve that only the middle movement had been arranged for strings by the composer and called Nocturne. Surely she would know if the outer movements had also been arranged by Holst, and if so why did she not include them on the disc?


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

Yeah it's odd. Imogen was very close to the work and you'd expect her to be the authority on that sort of issue at that point in time.

There is at least one recording of the entire suite for strings however.

E.g. 




There are some things of note about this recording. Firstly other string arrangements gave the opening solo cornet to a solo viola, wheres in this recording and the preview on C. Alan Publications, the opening theme is played by the entire 1st vln section. And the key is the same. So unless there is yet another string arrangement around, I would suggest that this recording is off the G&M Brand publication, which claims to be Holst's arrangement.

Other string arrangements I know of are in a different key, the Brass Band (G Holst original) Orchestra (Arr. Gordon Jacob) and Concert Band (Arr Denis Wright) are in the original key.

It's a whole confusing mess, maybe Imogen hadn't found everything by that stage. I've even seen a comment somewhere claiming that Imogen herself did yet another arrangement of it for strings, but haven't found anything to corroborate that.

The Britten and Pears Foundation has the original Holst manuscripts though, that would answer the question once and for all if anyone is near Aldeburgh and can pop in 

I'm still hoping to get a reply from G & M Brand on it, they must have seen the original manuscripts as well.


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

OK, so I got a quite comprehensive response from Michael Brand about this. VERY interesting.

He says that some time in the 80's or 90's as they were working on A Downland Suite by John Ireland, he noticed an entry in Imogen Holst's Catalogue of Holst's Works referring to Holst's own arrangement of "A Moorside Suite" as "being an autographed manuscript in the author's possession".

However they could not find the manuscript. Some time later (mid 90's), Jon C Mitchell (renowned Holst scholar) visited from the US and found the original manuscript, possibly at Kneller Hall (British Army school of music) which Holst had frequented.

So that could explain earlier statements from the 1960's, perhaps the Lyrita LP was released before Imogen became aware of the existence of the work. I wonder how she became aware (to enter it into the catalogue) - maybe she later reviewed some document which discussed it, otherwise you'd think she would have acquired the manuscript itself at that point.

Michael Brand had the manuscript authenticated by Colin Matthews (music adviser to the Holst estate).

Professor Mitchell gave the first performance of it in 1994 at UMASS Boston.

G&M Brand published it in 1999.

So, the G&M Brand publication of it, is the only one available, and is by Holst. It's a fantastic piece for string orchestra.


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

Michael just sent me a scan of the cover note for the publication written by Colin Matthews.

It states the arrangement was done in 1932 while Holst was teaching composition at Harvard.

Arranged for the junior orchestra at St Pauls, proved too difficult for them, so the Brook Green Suite was written for them the following year.

"The Moorside Suite arrangement remained unperformed, although Holst's daughter, Imogen, edited the middle movement 'Nocturne' for a recording by the English Chamber Orchestra in 1967 (Lyrita SRCD.223)"


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

Hmm, the manuscript must have been in Imogen's possession in order for her to edit the nocturne for the recording, which suggests it was in Aldeburgh, not Kneller Hall.

So I can't explain the Lyrita sleeve note.


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