Holst, Gustav - Savitri

Gustav Holst has earned a place among the most revered of late 19th and early 20th century composers and is best known for his enduring Orchestral suite The Planets.But before that great work, in his use of Englshfolksongs,Gnostic texts and these Vedic hymns, one can discern Holst’s search for a compositional Voice beyond the constraints of the European canon in the early 1900’s. In Savitri he makes use of modal styles, bitonality,austerity ofOrchestration in some places, richness of texture in others, and an ability to suggest Indian exoticism. The piece has a performance time of thirty minutes and has minimal staging requirements.