Her life, music and legacy

Explore the life and music of Imogen Holst

Composer, conductor and teacher who made her home in Aldeburgh, Suffolk.

Biography of a composer and conductor
Full catalogue of her musical works
Her home at 9 Church Walk
Books and writings by and about her
Recordings of her choral and chamber music

Explore her story

Biography

Imogen Holst was born in Richmond, Surrey, in 1907, and trained at the Royal College of Music before working as a freelance musician, teacher at Dartington Hall, and later as Benjamin Britten's music assistant in Aldeburgh.

List of Works

A catalogue of Imogen Holst's original compositions, alongside her arrangements of traditional folk tunes and works by other composers.

Bibliography

The books Imogen Holst wrote during her lifetime, including biographies of her father Gustav Holst and guides to conducting and music theory.

Discography

Available recordings of Imogen Holst's choral and chamber music, including samples that can be heard on the Holst Archive Project blog.

9 Church Walk

Imogen Holst's bungalow home in Aldeburgh, designed by modernist architect HT Cadbury-Brown, where she lived for the rest of her life.

About Imogen Holst

Imogen Holst was born in Richmond, Surrey, in 1907, and educated at St Paul's Girls' School, where her father Gustav Holst was director of music. She studied composition, harmony and conducting at the Royal College of Music, winning several awards before beginning her career as a freelance musician in 1931.

In 1943 she established a remarkable music school at Dartington Hall, training near beginners and conservatory graduates alike. In 1952 Benjamin Britten invited her to Aldeburgh to help with his opera Gloriana, and she remained there for the rest of her life, working as his music assistant and as an artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival.

From 1964 she devoted herself to the music of her father, preparing scholarly editions and a thematic catalogue of his works, while also returning to composition herself.

In their own words

Imogen Holst is a slight, fair-haired figure, usually armed with masses of work to do in trains or other unlikely places, finding time to seem to be in at least three places at once and to write at least three books at a time. She loves walking and rejoices in the cold winds of her beloved East Anglia.

Ursula Vaughan Williams, Performing Right Society journal, 1966

Anyone could have told at a glance that she had been a dancer, and still was. Her conducting... was a joy to watch – the same dance-like movements, and rhythm – rhythm was everything.

Colin Matthews

The Holst house had to be built cheaply, but there is no marked contrast between the character of the well-funded [Cadbury-Brown house] and the low-budget house. Each is designed in relation to its garden, with light a palpable element of the architecture.

Diana Rowntree, The Guardian, 2009

From the archive

Discover the life and music of Imogen Holst

Step inside her home, her works and her story.

Explore the archive 01728 451700

Get in touch

Phone: 01728 451700