Gustav Holst: the

As previous reviewers have mentioned, there are a number of both "pros" and "cons" that apply to this recording set...Pros:- Holst's best known-works (The Planets, the Two Suites for Military Band, Hammersmith, Hymns from the Rig Veda, even "In the Bleak Midwinter") are included, providing the listener a "comfortable" introduction to the composer's style, and transition point for exploration into the less-well-known works presented herein.- A collection of Holst's works has - in my mind - been far too long in coming. Despite being of one of Britain's most influential and important composers, most concert-goers and causal listeners only - and unfortunately - know of him only because of one all-too-familiar work. This collection does much to expose the audience to Holst's masterful lyricism, folk music sensibilities, innovative compositional techniques, and vibrant instrumentation that did much to build the "British Sound" of early 20th-century art music that we now associate with Holst, Walton, Arnold, Vaughan Williams, etc.- Similarly, this collection represents a wide variety of Holst's output, and includes compositions for a wide varity of settings and ensembles. This allows the listener tremendous variety in exploring Holst's compositional style as well as the changes and subtleties therein that devloped as he matured.- This collection compiles a number of historical recordings, and several recent remasters thereof.- Like many of the other EMI composer collections (Vaughan Williams, Mahler, etc.), this collection presents an excellent value for the money, allowing both the classical "newcomer" and the serious audiophile to add a significant number of recordings to their collection without sacrificing hundreds of dollars for the individual recordings.Cons:- As Mr. Randolph pointed out, the recordings contained herein are of varying quality, but some of them are just downright *bad.* Of particular note: * Adrian Boult's "Planets" with the LPO, while technically precise, is emotionally very "flat" and uninspiring. While Boult's knowledge of the work is stunning, and although I understand that Boult's conducting style was always one of "letting the work speak for itself," one would expect at least SOME enthusiasm from the man who premiered the work and who was close friends with the composer. * The recordings of the Two Suites for Military Band are, simply put...BAD. There are numerous (and clearly audible) mistakes in the performance, and the recording mix does little to highlight the wide variety of sonic possibilities offered by the "concert band" that the composer sought to explore in these works. With an outstanding recording of these two pieces available in the EMI catalog  British Composers: Music for Concert Band  it's a mystery to me as to why the compilers of this collection chose these sub-par performances, aside from the "historically interesting" fact that they were conducted by the composer's daughter * The Wandering Scholar suffers from balance problems throughout. The recording mix sounds overall very "mushy" (think piano with the sustain pedal held down...) and the distinct lines and voices are often hard to discern. This is especially maddening given Holst's interest in - and techinical mastery of - counterpoint.- The packaging, while attractive on the shelf, is rather unimaginitive in that the individual discs are presented only in individual paper sleeves. While this in and of itself is not necessarily far from "par for the course" when compared to other budget compliations (especially those by EMI and London), the liner notes - or should I say, THE EXTREME LACK THEREOF aside from individual track listings of the included discs - are neither helpful nor insightful in guiding the listener through the chronology of the works, to say nothing of their relation to the composer's maturation, style, etc.- As mentioned previously, this collection unexplainably omits some of Holst's better known works, such as the Double Concerto, the Capriccio, and the entireties of "Three Hymns from the English Hymnal" and "Choral Fantasy on Old Carols."Overall, a decent collection with an attractive price, albeit with several noteworthy shortcomings.

Cons: Like any compilation set like this, the recordings are going to be of variable quality. For instance if you're buying this set mainly for the Planets, I would not recommend it. There are other recordings better than the one on this disc. And unfortunately, they did omit some rather nice Holst works, such as the Double Concerto, Two Songs Without Words, Fugal Overture, Lyric Movement, The Cloud Messenger and the posthumous Capriccio. It's hard to see how works like that don't make it while some others do, unless perhaps those aforementioned works just don't exist in the EMI catalog. (As an example, Holst's most successful opera was Sivitri. That's not included while they include two of lesser quality and renown.)Pros: While there are some inexplicable omissions, it more than makes up for it with what it does contain. This set contains a lot of nice works that have not been frequently recorded (Beni Mora, Ode to Death, Dirge for two Veterans, Hammersmith (original version) to just name a few). To be able to amass such a number of rare works in one fell swoop for such a bargain price more than makes up for the downsides. It's handsomely packaged and as mentioned it's an absolute bargain, therefore I give it five stars!

I have always been a fan of Gustav Holst and expected to put a disc in the Windows Media Player and get what the sleeve indicated. Surprise - the discs are not in the correct sleeves The first disc is supposed to be The Planets. It is not. I just opened the package and am very disappointed that the manufacturer did not make certain that the discs were packaged correctly. When I finally had them sorted out, the selections are not played in the order indicated. I am a classical musician and this is most disappointing.

Before I bought this CD collection, I had never heard anything by Holst except The Planets. Everything on this multi-CD collection is great, and has inspired me to buy other Holst CDs. He was truly a great composer with an enormous range of different types of music. Don't know why he isn't more renowned or played than he is. Maybe there will someday be a Holst resurgence like the Mahler resurgence of the 1960s.

I have long had a weakness for Holst's music; early, middle, and especially late. The Planets started me off, and once I had heard The Perfect Fool, I was hooked.Both are here, as is the Hymn of Jesus, Egdon Heath, the Dirge for Two Veterans, and two complete operas.Performances and sound are up to EMI's usual standards. Even the older recordings, such as Sir Malcolm Sargent's Beni Mora, sound good.

A library of classical music is not complete without Gustave Holst. I was fortunate in finding "The Collector's Edition" in Amazon's vast gallery of CDs. This collection is most complete with The Planets, Somerset Rhapsody, and a number of hymns, including my favorite, In the Bleak Midwinter. He is melodic, bold, and riveting. I think you'll love it.

These works are beautifully performed and sound wonderful, If you love this period's music there is no better way to hear it unless you have a local orchestra that plays them all. It seems we rarely get even one. We have been lucky to at least have Holst's The Planets and a few of Elgar's works in the last couple of years.

Lots of good music, some mediocre. Unfortunately they just took existing CD masters of varying ages and shoved them in the same box. The formats vary between disks and metadata is not available on all the disks (including things like track names).

On the first CD comes Holst's most popular work played well by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Sir Adrian Boult, and The ballet music from 'The Perfect Fool' and the work that Holst thought amongst his best ' Egdon Heath' here played by the London Symphony Orchestra with Andre Previn. On CD 2 there are some of the works that portray the 'Englishness' of Holst - A Somerset Rhapsody,St Paul's Suite and Brook Green Suite and A Fugal Concerto. But also there is an Oriental Suite 'Beni Mora' - well worth discovering. For me a unique and wonderful experience is to be had in the 'Ode to Death'. with words by Whitman. I know nothing like it even among the greatest works of Holst. Two fine choral works begin CD 3 - Psalm 86 and a Choral Fantasia, and then lively merrymaking with fantastic military band music - all the instruments are heard at their best from someone who understood the band - four great suites. On CD 4 are some highlights of Holst's music for singers Including 'The Homecoming' words by Thomas Hardy and the prophetic 'A Dirge for Two Veterans' written shortly before the Great War. The Baccolian Singers of London provide deeply moving ensemble and solo singing in Six Choral Folk Songs and Six Choruses from medieval Latin. That CD is finished with church music - superb 'Turn back O man', 'Lullay my liking,' Personent Hodie' and the lovely carol setting - 'In the Bleak Midwinter.' CD5 has some magnificent choral works. The whole edition is accompanied by a very useful booklet. You will probably want to look for some of the words of the choral works and songs. This Holst edition contains a wealth or great orchestal and choral music with depth, played and sung by some of England's greatest musicians of the 20th century.

Love St Paul’s Suite in this box set

Great box set and brilliant price

A comprehensive survey of Holt's music with a very high quality of performances

Brilliant!