Japanese Suite | |
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Orchestral composition | |
by Gustav Holst | |
![]() The composer in his mid-twenties, c. 1901 | |
Opus | 33 |
Composed | 1915 |
Dedication | To the Amanuensis (Vally Lasker) |
Performed | 1 September 1919: London |
Movements | Six |
Japanese Suite, Op. 33 is a short orchestral work by the English composer Gustav Holst, completed in 1915. [1] It was the first of Holst's works to be performed at a Queen's Hall Promenade Concert, on 1 September 1919, with the composer conducting the New Queen's Hall Orchestra. After this there were a small number of performances in the British provinces. [2]
The suite resulted from Holst's collaboration with the dancer Michio Itō, who intended to use it as an accompaniment for one of his London performances. On the title page of the score, kept in the British Library, Holst wrote "I composed this piece for the Japanese dancer Michio Ito, who provided the themes for the parts other than the marionette dance." [3]
Most of the main melodies in the Japanese Suite are based on traditional Japanese folk tunes. Holst sat in Itō's dressing room and took notes, while the dancer whistled the tunes to him. [4]
The work is divided into four dance pieces, and includes a prelude, interlude and finale: [5]
Itō supplied all the themes except for the third movement. [6] Japanese themes include Edo Lullaby which is referenced in Dance Under the Cherry Tree. [3] In Holst's autograph sketch, Dance of the Wolf is entitled Dance of the Fox. [3] One of Itō's dance pieces at the Coliseum was entitled Moonlight Foxes. [3]
In his book Britten and the Far East, Mervyn Cooke describes it as an attempt by Holst to 'integrate Japanese modality' with the composer's own European harmonic approach. Cooke observes that Holst was working on the suite concurrently with 'Mercury' from his suite The Planets Op. 32. [7] Writing in The Guardian, Andrew Clements suggests that, like The Planets, the work displays some modernist influences. [8]
An early available recording from 1971 was conducted by Adrian Boult, who had maintained a lifelong friendship with Holst. [9]
In his paper, The Dancer Itō Michio and Japonisme: A Driving Force for the Formation of a New Genre, Midori Takeishi says that Holst attended one of Itō's short performances at the London Coliseum in the period from 10 to 22 May 1915. In one of Holst's notebooks from this period, Ito's residential address has been written in the dancer's handwriting. Takeishi says that for these performances, the dancer had hurriedly arranged a small-scale musical accompaniment, possibly using Japanese instruments or a piano. [3]
Takeishi also observes that the young dancer was very short of money, even pawning his belongings, and would not have been able to pay Holst a fee. According to Takeishi, there is no evidence to suggest that Itō ever used the work in a performance. By September 1916, Itō had moved from London to New York. [3]
Writing in Musical Times in December 1919, Edwin Evans reviewed Holst's development as a composer after the end of his 'Sanskrit period', with recent major works such as The Planets and The Hymn of Jesus . Evans mentioned the Japanese Suite along with several other minor works, and said that while originally planned for a Michio Itō performance at the Coliseum, it had '...now taken its place in the repertoire'. [10]
In the same publication, Richard Capell in 1927 described it as among the most likeable of Holst's smaller instrumental works, along with A Fugal Concerto and the St Paul's Suite . [11]
In 1921, Holst was commissioned to write a ballet, The Lure, and modelled one of its dances on Dance of the Marionette from this suite. [12]
Holst scored the Japanese Suite for two piccolos, cor anglais, timpani, glockenspiel, gong, xylophone, cymbals, sleigh bells, bass drum, harp and strings. [13] A typical performance takes from 10 to 12 minutes. John Boyd has arranged a version for concert band. [14]
Japanese Suite at the IMSLP Petrucci Music Library
Orchestra | Conductor | Year | Venue | Label |
---|---|---|---|---|
London Symphony Orchestra | Sir Adrian Boult | 1971 | Walthamstow Assembly Hall | Lyrita |
Philharmonia Orchestra | Djong Victorin Yu | 1998 | Royal Festival Hall | Exton |
BBC Philharmonic | Andrew Davis | 2011 | BBC Manchester studio | Chandos |
Ulster Orchestra | JoAnn Falletta | 2012 | Ulster Hall | Naxos |
Argovia Philharmonic | Douglas Bostock | 2015 | Kultur & Kongresshaus, Aarau, Switzerland | MBM Musikproduktion |
BBC National Orchestra of Wales | Barry Wordsworth | 2024 | BBC Studio 2, Maida Vale, London | BBC Music Magazine |
Alternative arrangements
Sources: WorldCat and Apple Classical