Festival Anthem

Festival Anthem also exists in a version for SSATB chorus and string orchestra. The chorus should read from the present score for either version. A separate edition of the full score and parts for the version with string orchestra are also available for hire from the publishers.

Note from The Holst Foundation

 

Imogen Holst composed this setting of Psalm 104 in August and September 1946. She dedicated it to Dorothy Elmhirst, who with her husband Leonard had established Dartington as a rural community in 1925. The original version is scored for chorus (SSATB) and organ or piano, but uncharacteristically for the composer, the manuscript contains no indication of tempo, nor any dynamics, although it is otherwise complete. There is no record of performance. The edition with accompaniment of string orchestra was prepared by Colin Matthews for recording by the BBC Singers and BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Alice Farnham, in January 2024.