Imogen Holst: The Unfortunate Traveller (1929) for Brass Band

This performance was given by Grimethorpe Colliery Band conducted by Robert Childs at the 2015 RNCM Festival of Brass.

I. Introduction (00:00)
II. Scherzo (01:34)
III. Interlude (03:55)
IV. March (08:02)

"The Unfortunate Traveller was the first substantial word for brass band to be composed by a female composer. Imogen Holst (1907 - 84) submitted the suite as part of her 1930 student portfolio at the Royal College of Music. The title was taken from Thomas Nashe's famous 1594 picaresque novel. Several Morris Dance tunes are introduced, including Bonnie Green Garters, Shepherd’s Hey, The Rose and The Wind Blaws Cauld. The spirited rhythms that remind us how much Imogen Holst loved tradition English dance music.
The Suite was first performed on 12 February 1933 at her Majesty's Theatre, Carlisle, by the St. Stephen's Band, with the composer conducting. Interviewed by The Daily Mail, Imogen Holst said: '….it is the first time, so far as I know, that a woman has conducted a brass band at a public concert.... It was their performance at the Crystal Palace Festival [of A Moorside Suite] that inspired me to write this Suite, which I have dedicated to them'.
The original brass band version was not heard again after that performance. The composer’s manuscript score, which now resides in the Holst Collection at the Red House, Aldeburgh, is heavily marked with alterations, some of which appear to be in her father’s hand. The scoring reveals the 22- year-old's lack of experience in writing for the band medium. There are problems of balance and range and an absence of colouration of the level that her father achieved so tellingly in A Moorside Suite, which was clearly the model for parts of The Unfortunate Traveller." - Paul Hindmarsh