The Cloud Messenger (Holst)

The Cloud Messenger
Cantata by Gustav Holst
The composer in his mid-twenties, c. 1901.
LibrettistComposer, from an ancient Sanskrit poem
LanguageEnglish
Based onMeghadūta ('The Cloud Messenger')
by the Indian poet, Kālidāsa (c. 4th–5th century CE)
Premiere
1913 (1913)
Queen's Hall, London

The Cloud Messenger, Op. 30, is a cantata for contralto solo, chorus and orchestra by the English composer Gustav Holst, based on Meghadūta, an ancient Sanskrit poem. Holst worked on it for several years, and it was completed in 1910.[1] After some revisions, it was published in 1912.[2]

The work was first performed on 4 March 1913 by the London Choral Society and New Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer. It was a Queen's Hall concert presented by H. Balfour Gardiner.[3]

In 1924, after a concert performance by the Langham Choral Society, a review in The Musical Times referred to the 'elaborate Oriental imagery' of Holst's text, combined with music that 'abounds in beauties'. According to that review, the work is consistent with the composer's Hymns from the Rig Veda, while looking ahead to the style of his Hymn of Jesus.[4]

The work was frequently performed during the 1920s and '30s, however, over time its manuscript was misplaced. The score was reassembled by Christopher Palmer for the 1990 recording by Richard Hickox.[5]

On 19 November 2016, it received its first public performance since the 1930s, with the Tonbridge Philharmonic and Choral Society conducted by Matthew Wilks, and the mezzo-soprano Linda Finnie.[5]

Inspiration

Meghadūta by Kalidasa

Meghadūta (Bengali: মেঘদূত, literally Cloud Messenger) is a lyric poem written by the great Sanskrit poet Kālidāsa (c. 4th–5th century CE).[6] The poem describes how a newly-married yakṣa (a nature spirit, or demi-god) neglects his daily duties, and allows his master's garden to be trampled by Airavata, an elephant belonging to the god Indra.[7] As punishment, the yakṣa is exiled for a year to a remote mountain by his master, Kubera, the god of wealth.[6]

After some time passes, the lonely yakṣa tries to convince a passing cloud to take a message of love to his wife back home.[6] The yakṣa describes the beautiful sights and sounds the cloud will experience on its northward journey – arrays of colourful blossoms, the sweet sounds of birds, and awe-inspiring rivers and mountains.[6] Along the way, pausing at the temple of Lord Shiva, the cloud's rumblings will act as the tabor (drum) at evening prayers. At the city of Alakā in the Himalayas, the yakṣa hopes that the cloud will deliver the message to his wife, and then return with a reply from her.[6]

Translation to English

Meghadūta was first translated into English in 1813 by H. H. Wilson.[8] Holst initially based his text on a version by R.W. Frazer, which the composer had read in the 1890s.[9] In the program for the work's first performance, Holst included a note of thanks to Frazer for permission to make use of his version.[3] In 1907, he purchased a version edited by Pandit Nabin Chandra Vidyaranta. Holst's copy is now in St Paul's Girls School, where he taught music.[9] Holst scholar Raymond Head observes that the composer took care to avoid including any of the erotic elements from the original Sanskrit texts.[9]

Movements

Imogen Holst's listing of the work suggests a duration of 38 minutes.[3] It is performed in the following sequence: [10]

  1. Prelude
  2. O thou, who com'st from Heaven's king
  3. In the city of the Great God
  4. Bringer of rain
  5. Rushing northward
  6. See how all greet thee
  7. Behold the villages
  8. As the rain descends
  9. Tarry not, O cloud, tarry not
  10. Tarry not, O cloud
  11. And hark!
  12. Thou hast reached the snowy peaks
  13. And see! The Great God himself
  14. Chorus (Moderato maestoso)
  15. When the dancers are weary
  16. Wait near her flower-covered window
  17. The Message (I, the bringer of the rain)
  18. 'Beloved!'

Holst's Indian period

As a young man, Holst became interested in Hindu philosophy, and in 1899 studied Sanskrit literature at University College in London.[11] Holst drew inspiration from the Hindu tradition a number of times, with notable examples being, along with this work, Hymns from the Rig Veda, and the opera Sāvitri.[9]

In 1919, writing in The Musical Times, Edwin Evans, when reviewing the composer's ongoing development, described this as Holst's 'Sanskrit' period.[1] In the 1980s, in Holst and India: 'Maya' to 'Sita', Raymond Head described it as Holst's 'Indian' period.[9]

During this period, musicologist Nalini Ghuman sees a clear influence of the Indian classical music tradition on Holst's use of harmony, texture and mode. In her book, Resonances of the Raj, she provides examples of how he drew upon elements such as the ālāp and rāga.[12]

Ethnomusicologist Martin Clayton says that at least one Holst biographer was reluctant to acknowledge that the composer had been directly influenced by Indian music. Clayton says that Holst could have heard it being played by visiting musicians, or through his association with the violinist Maud Mann, an authority on the subject.[13]

Imogen Holst suggested that her father studied Sanskrit with academic Mabel Bode in the late 1890s. However, Raymond Head believes this took place during the period 1899–1905, and that he studied the literature, rather than the language itself.[14]

The Upanishads was one of a small number of books that Holst kept with him for his whole life. According to Imogen Holst, her father began exploring Indian culture and history after reading the book Silent Gods and Sun Steeped Lands by R. W. Frazer.[9]

Recordings

Performers Year Label
Della Jones, contralto; London Symphony Chorus; London Symphony Orchestra; Richard Hickox, conductor. 1990 Chandos
(Adapted for chamber ensemble) Caitlin Goreing, alto; King's College London Chapel Choir; The Strand Ensemble; Joseph Fort, arranger & conductor. 2020 Delphian

Sources: WorldCat and Apple Classical

Score

The Cloud Messenger at IMSLP Petrucci Music Library

References

  1. ^ a b Evans, Edwin (1919-12-01). "Modern British Composers. VI.-Gustav Holst (Concluded)". The Musical Times. 60 (922): 657–661. doi:10.2307/3701919. JSTOR 3701919.
  2. ^ Capell, Richard (1927-01-01). "Gustav Holst: Notes for a Biography (II)". The Musical Times. 68 (1007): 17–19. doi:10.2307/913569. JSTOR 913569.
  3. ^ a b c Holst, Imogen (1974). A thematic catalogue of Gustav Holst's music. Internet Archive. London (38 Russell Sq., WC1B 5DA) : Faber Music Ltd. : G. and I. Holst Ltd. ISBN 978-0-571-10004-0.
  4. ^ "London Concerts". The Musical Times. 65 (973): 257–261. 1924. ISSN 0027-4666. JSTOR 913086.
  5. ^ a b Head, Raymond (17 September 2025). "Gustav Holst: The Cloud Messenger" (PDF). The Holst Society.
  6. ^ a b c d e ROYCHOWDHURY, KRISHNA CHANDRA. “Kalidasa’s Imagery in ‘Meghaduta.’” Indian Literature 19, no. 2 (1976): 92–118. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24157268.
  7. ^ Kalidasa, Horace Hayman Wilson. The Megha duta; or, Cloud messenger (Das ed.).
  8. ^ Ireland, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and (1834). Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press for the Royal Asiatic Society.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Head, Raymond (1988). "Holst and India (III)". Tempo (166): 35–40. doi:10.1017/s0040298200024293. ISSN 0040-2982.
  10. ^ The Cloud Messenger, H111 recording by The Choir of King's College London — Apple Music Classical, retrieved 2025-08-11
  11. ^ Huismann, Mary Christison (2011-04-26). Gustav Holst: A Research and Information Guide. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-84527-8.
  12. ^ Ghuman, Nalini (2014). Resonances of the Raj: India in the English Musical Imagination, 1897‒1947. Oxford University Press. pp. 105–151. ISBN 9780199314898.
  13. ^ Zon, Bennett; Clayton, Martin (2016). Music and Orientalism in the British Empire, 1780s–1940s. Routledge. pp. 71–93. ISBN 978-0754656043.
  14. ^ Head, Raymond (1986). "Holst and India (I) 'Maya' to 'Sita'". Tempo (158): 2–7. doi:10.1017/s0040298200022506. ISSN 0040-2982.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.