Brook Green Suite

Many of English composer Gustav Holst’s favorite things intersect in the Brook Green Suite. Holst wrote the suite in 1933 while he was in the hospital, one year before his death, for his orchestral students at the St. Paul Girls’ School. Education was essential to Holst, and he wanted the young musicians to have substantive musical experiences that matched their skill level. The result was the Brook Green Suite, named either for the school’s proximity to the neighborhood of Brook Green in London or perhaps because he and his wife Isobel were married there in 1901. All three movements—a gentle Prelude, a lyrical Air, and an energetic Dance—are infused with the rich lyricism of English folk music, another of Holst’s passions. The Brook Green Suite was later adapted for winds, increasing its accessibility and broad appeal.