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Henry Holst - The Great Forgotten Danish Violinist

Henry Holst – The Great Forgotten Danish Violinist

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Henry Holst
Henry Holst (1899 – 1991) grew up in Sæby, a small provincial market town at that time with a population of only two thousand in the northern, sparsely populated region of Jutland. His father was the organist in the local church, and music played a central rôle in the home. Henry began playing the violin at an early age and attracted the interest of Peder Møller, a friend of the family, a violinist and member of the Royal Danish Orchestra.
Henrys father died in 1907 and in 1913 his mother sold the house in Sæby and moved to Copenhagen where the 14-year-old boy was to be taught by Peder Møller, who, however. succumbed to stress and too many cigars and had to call in sick! But he saw to it that the boy was sent to Axel Gade, the leader of the Royal Danish Orchestra, who was the son of the composer Niels W. Gade. With him Henry Holst found a home with culture and vision, which, as he himself relates, gave him many positive impulses. But the most important thing was probably that Gade saw to it that already in 1914 Henry entered the conservatoire and on a scholarship at that. He lived up to all expectations, developed quickly and found many friends. He explains himself: “It was a happy time, and in 1918 I passed the final examination with the following testimonial: ‘Mr. Henry Holst has developed into a good and perceptive violinist and among other things is in possession of a beautiful and wellgrounded tone with an extremely good technique, altogether a promising violin talent.’ – Signed by N. P. Weiss, Anton Svendsen, Axel Gade and Carl Nielsen. I made my first public appearance as a soloist the same year and pursued advanced studies in Copenhagen with Emil Telmányi and in Berlin with Willy Hess from 1919 until 1921, and when I returned
home, I succeeded in securing a position as a violinist in the Royal Danish Orchestra” 

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CD 1
Ralph Vaughan Williams 
Violin Concerto in D minor, ´Concerto Accademico´ (1924-25) 
1. I. Allegro pesante
2. II. Adagio
3. III. Presto

Frederick Delius 
4. Légende in E flat major (1895) 

William Walton 
Violin Concerto (1938-39) 
5. I. Andante tranquillo
6. II. Presto capriccioso alla napolitana
7. III. Vivace

Pablo de Sarasate 
8. Zigeunerweisen Op. 20, (1878) 

Fritz Kreisler
9. Liebesleid 

CD 2
Franz Schubert 
Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano in B flat major, Op. 99 
1. I. Allegro moderato
2. II. Andante un poco mosso
3. III. Scherzo. Allegro
4. IV. Rondo. Allegro vivace

String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D810 ´Death and the Maiden`
5. I. Allegro ma non troppo
6. II. Andante
7. III. Menuetto: Allegretto
8. IV. Allegro moderato

Joseph Haydn 
Piano Trio No. 39 in G major, Hob.XV:25 ´Gypsy` 
9. I. Andante
10. II. Poco adagio cantabile
11. III. Rondo all´Ongarese (Presto)

Henry Holst ©
In 1923 Henry Holst presented himself as a candidate for the leader of The Berlin Philharmonic, which after the death of Artur Nikisch in the
previous year now had Wilhelm Furtwängler as its chief conductor. He won the position over 14 competitors and relates himself:
“That was quite something for an enthusiastic young violinist! From the last desk of the second violinists on Kgs. Nytorv to the highly responsible first desk in Bernburger Strasse, enjoying a close working relationship with such a great figure as Furtwängler”.
Also in this orchestra he had many solo performances, but after eight years, in 1931, he was offered a position in England at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, an offer which to many people’s astonishment he accepted. If the political developments in the Weimar Republic had not been, as far as one can judge, a deciding factor, then it was probably a strong motivation for his farewell to Germany, where his friends asked him what on earth he wanted to do in “ein Land ohne Musik?”
One should not be led into assuming that Henry Holst had family connections with England or English people, even though the name Holst might cause one to imagine this to be the case: one only thinks of the composer Gustav Holst.
About his farewell to Germany and his time in England he himself relates in a speech he gave at a commemoration at the conservatoire:
“I have never regretted taking that step. England was of course by no means without music. Many great names in the history of music have felt attracted to England: Haydn, Mozart, Weber and our own Niels W. Gade were active in England and benefitted considerably from recognition in that country.

RELEASE DATE: MARCH 2026

CATALOGUE NUMBER: DACOCD 1009

EAN: 5709499100905

Download BOOKLET (PDF)

 

Product Type

19, CD, MP3, FLAC

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