Moorside suite

Recorded live, in concert, on February 16,2024
A Moorside Suite.................................................................. Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
Arr. Denis Wright
Scherzo
March
British composer Gustav Holst composed for all musical media,
including choir, orchestra, military band, and brass band. A
Moorside Suite was originally written for the 1927 National Brass
Band Championships in London and was rescored for military band
by Denis Wright shortly before Holst’s death in 1934. The three-
movement suite was not published until 1983, however. The work
hints at the folk influence in Holst's early writing, combined with
the mature ideas of a great creative mind. The folksong influence is
apparent but not overt as the title alludes to a country setting but
does not describe a specific location. Though having three
movements, only two will be performed. The Scherzo, in “mini-
sonata form,” is light, airy, and dance-like in character, opening with
the interval of a fifth in the clarinet and saxophone, an interval
repeated throughout the suite. The March bursts on the audience
with a heroic trumpet fanfare, followed by a ponderous theme, an
aggressive brass fanfare, and a playful tune that is reminiscent of the
extended chorale of the second movement. It is a masterpiece of
Holst’s maturity and speaks eloquently of his love of the fields, fens,
and moors of his beloved homeland.