The first and only performance of Clear and Cool in Holst's time took place on 26th March 1897 at the Athenaeum, Goldhawk Road, London, accompanied on the piano by Thomas Dunhill.
Reflecting his increased interest in politics, Holst had formed a Hammersmith Socialist Choir (where he met his future wife Isobel). The text is from The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley, widely read by generations of children. Here he describes the contrasting qualities of a river, symbolising good and evil, and the ABA structure of the poem is reflected in Holst's musical setting. His earliest works were influenced by the music of Sullivan, but here there is more than a hint of Wagner in some of the harmonic progressions. Although Holst had prepared a full orchestral accompaniment, it remained dormant for 122 years!
- ISMN: 9790222312012 (M222312012)
