Second Suite in F for Military Band

The "Second Suite in F for Military Band" (Op. 28, No. 2) is Gustav Holst's second and last suite for band. Although performed less frequently than the "First Suite in E-flat", it is still a staple of the band literature. The "Second Suite" is longer and considered more difficult to play than its sister suite.

During Holst's earlier years as a composer, he took interest (as did many English composers at the time) in writing pieces based on folk music. His contemporary Ralph Vaughan Williams had based his "English Folk Song Suite" on English folk tunes. Holst followed suit with the "Second Suite". Six folk tunes are compressed into the four movements of the suite.

There have been several editions of the work, most recently by Boosey & Hawkes (1984), edited by Colin Mathews.

Instrumentation

The work is scored for 2 flutes in C and D-flat (both doubling piccolo), oboe, clarinet in E-flat, 3 clarinets in B-flat, bass clarinet in B-flat, 2 bassoons, 4 saxophones (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone), 2 cornets, 2 trumpets in B-flat, 4 horns in E-flat, 3 trombones (tenor, tenor, bass), euphonium, tuba, and percussion.

Structure

The "Second Suite" consists of four movements, all based on specific English folk songs.

Movement I: "March: Morris dance, Swansea Town, Claudy Banks"

The "March" of the "Second Suite" begins with a simple five note motif between the low and high instruments of the band. The first folk tune is heard in the form of a traditional British Brass Band march using the motif which is derived from the folk song "Morris Dance". After a brief climax, the second strain begins with a euphonium solo playing the second folk tune in the suite "Swansea Town". The theme is repeated by the full band before the trio. For the trio, Holst modulates to the unconventional sub-dominant minor of B-flat minor "and" changes the time signature to 6/8 thereby changing the meter. (Usually one would modulate to sub-dominant major in traditional march form. While Sousa, reputably the "king of marches", would sometimes change time signatures for the trio (most notably in "El Capitan"), it was not commonplace.) The third theme, called "Claudy Banks", is heard in a low woodwind soli, as is standard march orchestration. Then the first strain is repeated "da capo".

Movement II: "Song Without Words, 'I Love My Love'"

Holst places the fourth folk song, "I Love My Love" in stark contrast to the first movement. Being a mournful piece, a clarinet and oboe soli plays the theme over a flowing accompaniment in F minor. The movement slowly builds up with an added trumpet solo forming an arc of intensity.

Movement III: "Song of the Blacksmith"

Again, Holst contrasts the slow second movement to the rather upbeat third movement which features the folk song "Song of the Blacksmith". The brass section plays in a pointalistic style depicting a later Holst style. There are many time signature changes (4/4 to 3/4) making the movement increasingly difficult because the brass section has all of their accompaniment on the up-beats of each measure. The upper-woodwinds and horns join on the melody around the body of the piece, and is accompanied with the sound of a blacksmith tempering metal with an anvil called for in the score. The final D major chord has a glorious, heavenly sound, which opens way to the final movement. This chord works so effectively perhaps because it is unexpected because the entire movement is in F major when the music suddenly moves to the major of the relative minor.

Movement IV: "Fantasia on the Dargason"

The finale of the suite opens with an alto saxophone solo based on the folk song "Dargason", a 17th century English dance tune from the first edition of "The Dancing Master". The fantasia continues through several variations encompasing the full capabilities of the band. The final folk song, "Greensleeves", is cleverly woven through the fantasia through mixed meters with the Dargason being in 6/8 and Greensleeves being in 3/4. Upon the climx of the movement, the two competing themes are placed in competing sections. As the movement dies down, a tuba and piccolo duet forms a call back to the beginning of the suite with the competition of low and high registers.