Holst, Imogen (Clare)
Holst, Imogen (Clare)
Holst, Imogen (Clare), English conductor and writer on music, daughter of Gustav(us Theodore von) Holst; b. Richmond, Surrey, April 12, 1907; d. Alde-burgh, March 9, 1984. She studied at the St. Paul’s Girls School and the Royal Coll. of Music in London. From 1943 to 1951 she was music director of the Dartington Hall arts center. From 1952 to 1964 she was musical assistant to Britten; she also conducted the Purcell Singers (1953–67) and served as artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival (from 1956). In 1975 she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Her most important writings include Gustav Holst: A Biography (London, 1938; 2nd ed., 1969), The Music of Gustav Holst (London, 1951; 3rd ed., rev, 1986, including Hoist’s Music Reconsidered), and A Thematic Catalogue of Gustav Hoist’s Music (London, 1974). With C. Matthews, she ed. Gustav Holst: Collected Facsimile Edition of Autograph Manuscripts of the Published Works (London, 1974-83).
Bibliography
P. Cox and J. Dobbs, eds., I H at Dartington (Dartington, 1988).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire