HOLST: Savitri, 7 Part Songs, Choral Hymns from Rig Veda - Purcell Singers; English Chamber Orchestra, Imogen Holst

An inspired arrangement between Decca and Imogen Holst, led to a series of pioneering recordings of her father Gustav Holst’s music, which appeared on Argo and are now comprehensively released on CD as part of the Eloquence series. This collection highlights Holst’s fascination with mysticism and the Orient, with the inclusion of the Rig-Veda Hymns and the chamber opera Savitri, boasting a trio of luminaries – Janet Baker, Robert Tear and Thomas Helmsley – who, with Imogen Holst, give us a heart-rending performance of this episode from the Mahabharata, which tells how Savitri, the wife of a young woodcutter, wins back her husband, for whom Death has come, by the strength of her love and devotion The Seven Part-Songs, set to poems by Holst’s friend, Robert Bridges, are subtle and gracious, as befits their verses. Imogen Holst’s notes for the LPs – ‘acutely perceptive, objective and candid’ noted Gramophone’s reviewer Lionel Salter – are here reprinted as are the full texts.

HOLST
Choral Hymns from the Rig-Veda
The Purcell Singers
Osian Ellis, harp
Imogen Holst

Savitri
Janet Baker, mezzo-soprano
Robert Tear, tenor
Thomas Helmsley, bass
The Purcell Singers
English Chamber Orchestra
Imogen Holst

3 Seven Part-Songs, Op. 44
The Purcell Singers
English Chamber Orchestra
Imogen Holst

4 The Evening-Watch, Op. 43 No. 1
The Purcell Singers
Imogen Holst