Hymns from the Rig Veda
Holst's choral settings of Vedic hymns with Indian musical influences.
Hymns from the Rig Veda, Op. 24 and Op. 26, is a collection of vedic hymns by the English composer Gustav Holst, completed between 1907 and 1909. The work comprises 23 published hymns based on texts Holst translated himself from Sanskrit literature, and incorporates elements of Indian classical music. It is notable as a key example of Holst's engagement with Hindu philosophy and his 'Indian' period.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Choral work
- Composer
- Gustav Holst
- Librettist
- Composer's own translation of ancient Sanskrit texts
- Language
- English
- Based on
- The Rig Veda
Facts from the source article.
Sacred ancient texts
The Rig Veda, an ancient collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns, is the oldest known text in that language. Composer Gustav Holst bought Ralph Griffith's English translation from Luzac & Co, a London bookseller specializing in Oriental works. That copy now resides at St Paul's Girls' School. According to Holst scholar Raymond Head, the composer studied the volume thoroughly, with many pages worn and marked in pencil. Holst also consulted Rudolph Roth's On the Literature and History of the Veda. Earlier, the tale of Indra fighting the drought demon Vritra had inspired Holst's symphonic poem Indra.
Indian musical influences
Musicologist Nalini Ghuman sees a clear influence of Indian music in Holst's use of harmony, texture and mode, first evident in the solo hymn Vāruna. She says Vāruna's opening vocal phrase has roots in the unmetered ālāp, with Holst's approach aligning to the Indian classical tradition where the singer introduces a rāga phrase above a constant drone. Ghuman gives an example of Holst repeating a rāga–ālāp phrase three times in the hymn. She cites Vāruna as an example of Holst moving away from Wagner's influence, in a specifically Indian context inspired by the modalities of rāga–ālāp unfolding over a drone. Director of the Calliope women's ensemble, Régine Théodoresco, says Holst knew the rāga system and took inspiration from it, citing his use of the scale D - Eb - F# - G# - A - B - C - D in Hymn to the Travellers. She notes that in Hymn to the Dawn, Holst thinks polyphonically and deploys the full palette of a female ensemble, attributing this to his years as a music teacher. Ethnomusicologist Martin Clayton says at least one Holst biographer was reluctant to acknowledge direct Indian influence, but that Holst could have heard Indian music through visiting musicians or his association with violinist Maud Mann.
Holst's Indian period
As a young man, Holst became interested in Hindu philosophy and studied Sanskrit literature at University College in London in 1899. Over several years he drew inspiration from the Hindu tradition for works including the cantata The Cloud Messenger and the opera Sāvitri. In 1919, Edwin Evans described this as Holst's 'Sanskrit' period; in the 1980s, Raymond Head called it his 'Indian' period. Imogen Holst suggested her father studied Sanskrit with Mabel Bode in the late 1890s, but Head believes this was a study of literature rather than language during 1899–1905. The Upanishads was a book Holst kept for his whole life.
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