Holst: Beni Mora / Somerset Rhapsody / Hammersmith / Heath: Invocation for Cello and Orchestra

Holst: Beni Mora / Somerset Rhapsody / Hammersmith / Heath: Invocation for Cello and Orchestra

• orchestral works
• ABIS MUSIC
• NAXOS

There is much more to Holst than <I>The Planets</I>, and the music gathered on this excellently played and recorded disc gives you some of his very best orchestral music at a budget price. If you're a <I>Planets</I> fan, then the next logical piece to try is <I>Beni Mora</I>, a luscious Oriental rhapsody in three movements that reveals the same interest in rhythm and orchestral color that characterizes it's more famous astrological big brother. Holst considered <I>Egdon Heath</I> (a symphonic poem after Thomas Hardy) to be his best piece, and it's certainly one of his most evocative--a study in bleakness and silence very much like Debussy's <I>Nuages</I> (Clouds) from the <I>Nocturnes</I>. In short, there's a lot of fine music to discover here, and at the price it's a low risk investment. <I>--David Hurwitz</I>