Imogen Holst: A Life in Music: 7

Imogen Holst [1907-1984], the only child of Gustav Holst, was a composer and arranger of folksongs, writer on music, conductor, and administrator. She also acted as music assistant to Benjamin Britten, of whom she became a friend and close associate. She subsequently continued as Artistic Director of the Aldeburgh Festival until 1977, when she retired to devote more time to preparing a thematic catalogue of her father's music. This book offers the opportunity for a full assessment of Imogen Holst's life and achievements, both in her own words and through assessments by noted scholars. The backbone of this volume is the journal she kept at the start of her working association with Britten, from 1952 to 1954. Here she provides a unique insight into the professional and domestic life of a major composer, now published in full for the first time. Around these writings is woven a biographical narrative by Christopher Grogan and Rosamund Strode, the latter Holst's successor as Britten's music assistant and one of her closest colleagues and friends. The volume also includes an essay on her musical style and a complete catalogue of works, and an essay on her musical style by Christopher Tinker. CHRISTOPHER GROGAN is Librarian at the Britten-Pears Library.