1. First Suite in Eb
for Military Band
Gustav Holst

2. Background Information
Gustav Holst
Born September 21, 1874 in Cheltenham, England
Holst was a piano player, but because of health complications he turned to composition
Holst also played Trombone in the Scottish Orchestra and Carl Rosa Opera Company
Famous for his orchestral suite The Planets

3. Typical Military Band

4. Typical Concert Band

5. Background Information
First Suite in Eb
Originally composed for a British Military Band
usually around 20 to 30 people
Composition was started in 1909 but no record of a performance until 1920
Premiered by the Royal Military School of Music in 1920

6. Background Information
Why is this piece such a big deal?
It was the first piece ever written solely for wind band
Prior to it’s composition, pieces for wind band were simply orchestral reductions

7. A Suite According to Oxford Music Online:
“an instrumental genre consisting of several movements in the same key, some or all of which were based on the forms and styles of dance music”
First Suite in Eb
Chaconne
Intermezzo
March

8. What is a Chaconne? According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
“A musical composition in moderate triple time typically consisting of variations on a repeated succession of chords”
A variation form built over a recurring melodic theme

9. What is a Chaconne? Very popular in Baroque style pieces
In First Suite in Eb, the repeated melodic line is 8 bars long
In the first movement, the chaconne is repeated 15 times, with a coda at the end

10. What is a Chaconne?

11. Variation Form
In this piece, the variations are based on the simple 8-bar melody
Types of Variations Heard in the piece
Style of playing
Inversions
Various Instrument Groupings
solo lines, chamber-like scoring, etc.
Different keys

12. Musical Concepts Each movement climaxes at the end on the dominant
Notable because it helps propel each variation to the next through forward momentum
Chaconne theme is the unifying melody not only throughout the first movement but throughout the suite
Tension and Release

13. Musical Concepts Pedal Point
A long sustained sound through many bars while movement continues in other parts of the piece
Motif
A short musical idea, melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, or any combo. Commonly referred to as the shortest subdivision of a theme or phrase that still maintains its identity

14. Musical Concepts Hemiola
The articulation of two units of triple meter as if they were notated as three units of duple meter
Countermelody
A melodic line which is lesser to a principal line, but still very important

15. Musical Concepts How to play an arched phrase
The balance between repetition and contrast
It’s the same melody throughout the whole movement, yet it’s exciting to listen to - why?

16. Musical Concepts
How can we as an ensemble make these 15 variations interesting so that the audience will not know it’s just one melody repeated?