Suite de Ballet

Gustav Holst's Suite de Ballet op. 10 was composed in 1899 as an early work by the British composer, who revised it again in 1912. This four-movement suite already demonstrates Holst's characteristic fusion of late Romantic orchestral technique with folk elements that would later define his entire output. The scoring for large orchestra and solo violin indicates the young composer's symphonic ambitions.

The four movements Dance Rustique, Valse, Scène de Nuit and Carnival reflect the turn toward ballet music popular around 1900, as can also be observed among Holst's contemporaries. Here Holst develops a colorful, impressionistically tinged musical language that combines French influences with the emerging English national Romanticism.

As a work of youth, the Suite de Ballet stands at the beginning of Holst's compositional development, which would later lead to masterworks such as "The Planets." Already here his preference for distinctive orchestration and his ability to shape various moods and dance characters orchestrally becomes apparent.