Imogen Holst: The Fall of the Leaf
- Jul 2
- 5 min read
Imogen Holst lived under the shadow of her father, and of her beloved Benjamin Britten. But she had many talents of her own including composition. The fall of the leaf, written in 1963, is a set of three studies for solo cello based on a piece by Martin Peerson (c1572–1651) found in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. In the first variation, we can surely hear the gusts of wind swaying the trees, in the third the fallen leaves being blown hither and thither. The gently falling intervals of the melody imbue Imogen’s piece with an autumnal melancholy while leaves fall and swirl…
Peerson’s theme is heard at the beginning and end of the piece, sometimes accompanied by pizzicato broken chords, to be played, as Imogen said, ‘like the lute of our friend Julian Bream’. The gently falling intervals of the melody imbue Imogen’s three ‘studies’ with an autumnal melancholy. In the first variation, we can surely hear the gusts of wind swaying the trees, in the third the fallen leaves being blown hither and thither. But the heart of the work lies in the central movement, with its poignant opening figure that her beloved Benjamin Britten found particularly striking.
Imogen Holst (1907 – 1984)
Imogen started a music training course in Dartington Hall, Devon, in September 1943. She was a practical musician and inspirational teacher, and in eight years she established a remarkable music school (ultimately to become Dartington College) with students including near beginners and conservatory graduates. Her second book, The Music of Gustav Holst, was written there, a hard-hitting appraisal of her father’s work.
Imogen Holst left Dartington in July 1951 to resume a freelance career, and when in the autumn of 1952 Britten asked her to come to Aldeburgh to help with his opera Gloriana, she unhesitatingly accepted. She lived in Aldeburgh for the rest of her life, initially working closely with Britten both as his music assistant and for the Aldeburgh Festival, of which she was an artistic director from 1956 to 1977.
In 1964 she relinquished her work for Britten to concentrate on the music of her father, Gustav Holst, for which she felt uniquely responsible. She supervised and conducted recordings; with the aid of the composer Colin Matthews she prepared and revised scholarly editions of her father’s works and compiled A Thematic Catalogue of Gustav Holst’s Music. She wrote introductory biographies of composers and other books on music, and returned to composition, writing original works.
Imogen Holst died in Aldeburgh in March 1984, and was buried at Aldeburgh parish church cemetery nearby Britten and Peter Pears.
J. S. Bach (1685 – 1750) Unaccompanied Cello Suite No 2 in D Minor BWV 10081
Prelude – Allemande – Courante – Sarabande – Menuet I-Menuet II – Gigue
Bach’s second unaccompanied cello suite is the perfect companion piece to The Fall of the Leaf because the D minor suite is a similarly meditative, autumnal and deeply touching work; although the overwhelming character of the suite is one of sadness and profundity - the voice of the solo cello at its most heart-felt and plaintive but none the less beautiful.
The six great masterpieces were written when the history of the cello was in its relative infancy. That the six suites survived at all is something of a miracle. There is no autographed manuscript and the surviving source is a copy taken in 1730 (about a decade after their likely date of composition) by Anna Magdelena, Bach’s second wife. We do not know exactly when Bach wrote them, nor why, nor for whom; but they date from the early 1720s when Bach held the post of Kapellmeister at the court of Prince Leopold at Cöthen.
There were several court cellists who could have tackled these complex suites, most likely Christian Bernhard Linike who we know played them. At any rate, the suites exploit the potential of the cello more fully and more satisfyingly than any work since. Like many mysterious works of art whose genesis remains unexplained, they retain the aura of a miracle.
The idea of the 'suite' existed, of course, before Bach. It consisted of a stylised cluster of dances - Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue - and to these Bach added newer dance forms - the Minuet, Gavotte and Bouree. When combined with the introductory Prelude Bach demonstrated what could be achieved by taking an innovative approach to blending the conventional and the new. The mixture of dance types and the choice of key are both clear indicators that Bach intended to give each suite a distinct character in the context of the whole cycle.
The second suite contrasts with the joyous first. The Prelude has a song-like quality to it. Indeed the whole suite has a very ‘vocal’ feel. As the great Russian cellist Rostropovich put it, “When I play the second suite I feel like a singer.” Steven Isserlis suggests that – without undermining the abstract purity of the music - the cycle of six suites represent passages in the story of the Passion of Christ. The Second Suite takes us to the Garden of Gethsemane; a tender and lonely meditation, ending with a foreshadowing of the Crucifixion. The Sarabande is the saddest moment of the whole cycle, seeming to be like someone kneeling in rapt prayer
EVENT THREE
Saturday 12 September 1:00 – 2:00pm
Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate
Tickets £15 (Under 18’s and Students FREE)
Solo Cello Recital
Adrian Brendel (cello)
Adrian Brendel is one of the most versatile and original cellists of his generation. He has travelled the world as soloist, collaborator and teacher. He is a familiar presence at many of Europe’s leading festivals including Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Verbier, Aldeburgh, Edinburgh and Salzburg. His discovery of contemporary music through the works of Kurtag, Kagel and Ligeti in his teenage years opened a vital avenue that he continues to explore with huge enthusiasm alongside his passion for improvisation and programme curation.
In 2014 he became a member of the Nash Ensemble of London with whom he is resident at Wigmore hall throughout every season. Adrian has recorded a wide range of music for Philips, Hyperion, ECM new series, NMC, Bis and other labels. These include a survey of Beethoven’s complete works for cello and Piano with his father Alfred Brendel and a collection of pieces dedicated to him during many years of valuable collaboration with Sir Harrison Birtwistle.
2026 will mark the beginning of Adrian’s tenure as Artistic Director of Bath Mozartfest and Bachfest, one of the UK’s most established classical music festivals. Also in 2026 A new musical venture - Tree of strings foundation - will begin in southwest England, with a particular focus on young musicians and education.
Adrian was made an honorary member of the Royal Academy of music in 2021 where he also gives masterclasses as guest professor, alongside a cello class at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
