Gustav Holst's "St. Paul's Suite" performed by the Akiruno Chamber Orchestra.
"Jig" (1st movement)
"Ostinato" (2nd movement)
"Intermezzo" (3rd movement)
"The Dargason" (4th movement, finale)
"Jig" (1st movement)
"The Dargason" (4th movement, finale)
Holst wrote "Suite in C" for string orchestras in 1912 but was revised repeatedly until its publication in 1922. It was named "St Paul's Suite" in honor of the St Paul's Girls' School, an independent day school in Brook Green, Hammersmith, London, founded by the Worshipful Company of Mercers (the city's oldest livery company) in 1904. In 1905 Holst was named director of music for the school, serving in that capacity until his death in 1934 and pioneering music education for women. He composed the piece in gratitude for the school's construction of a soundproof studio for him. The finale was rewritten and rescored from the last movement of his "Second Suite in F for Military Band," which he wrote in 1911 and published in 1922; its opening was based on a 16th-century dance tune about a legendary Irish bear-like monster. Akiruno is a small municipality about 40-50 km from the center of Tokyo.
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