Japanese Suite

Gustav Holst's Japanese Suite was composed in 1915 during a period when the English composer was developing his characteristic musical language that would later bring him worldwide fame with "The Planets." The work demonstrates Holst's fascination with non-European musical traditions and his ability to integrate exotic elements into his orchestral style. The suite combines his typical harmonic language with impressionistically colored orchestration.

The six movements of the suite unfold an atmospheric sound world in which Holst employs pentatonic scales and characteristic rhythms to evoke a Japanese mood. Particularly the use of harp and percussion as well as the chamber music-like treatment of individual orchestral sections create that transparent texture typical of Holst's more mature works.

The Japanese Suite stands as an exemplar of the Oriental enthusiasm in English music at the beginning of the 20th century and joins the tradition of exoticist compositions also found among his contemporaries. The work is considered an important building block in Holst's compositional development and already displays that orchestral mastery that distinguishes his later major works.