House of Holst

I visited the childhood home of Gustav Holst (1874-1934) in Cheltenham this summer. I like any Victorian-themed home, and would gladly model my own on such if only space, pockets and practicality allowed. His father was organist at the local Anglo-Catholic parish of All Saints', a place where the composer himself was thought to have first honed his trade. His music, notably the Planets suite, shows the influence of Wagner and remains famous to this day.

Despite church connections, his own spirituality was rather at odds with orthodox Christian theology. His fascination with the eastern and esoteric traditions led him to a deep interest in Sanskrit literature and Indian philosophy, translating various Vedic hymns with their mystical views of ‘the divine’. He enjoyed the aesthetic, historical, and philosophical aspects of the Christian faith, but denied and neglected its soteriology- its teaching on salvation which we at Salem would term ‘the gospel’. His acclaimed Hymn of Jesus made use of gnostic sources popularised by theosophists rather than scripture. Like many today, he was ‘spiritual’ and, like many artists, keenly aware than man is not some mere concoction of chemicals and molecules, enduring a meaningless existence in a pointless world. It seems a pity that such a one neglected the Author of Life, the One who created music and for whom Holst was himself created.

It is sadly possible to enjoy the art while dishonouring the Artist.

-Ecclesiastes 12:4

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