Invocation, Op. 19 No. 2
by Gustav Holst
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Orchestra, Piano
- Composed
- 1911
- Duration
- 10'
- Publisher
- Faber Music
Purchase or download
About this piece
Gustav Holst (1874–1934) hoped to become a pianist, but neuritis in his right arm made playing difficult; he said the arm felt 'like a jelly overcharged with electricity', and he often conducted with his left hand. He also lived with asthma and poor eyesight. Invocation, a single slow movement of about ten minutes, was first performed on 2 May 1911 at the Queen's Hall in London by May Mukle with the New Symphony Orchestra under Landon Ronald, and it had several performances with piano in the following years before being largely forgotten. Faber published it only in 1983, as a full score and in a cello and piano edition with the solo part edited by Julian Lloyd Webber. Lloyd Webber, Raphael Wallfisch and Steven Isserlis have all recorded it.
Technical overview
No technical overview is available yet.