Hyperion Records

The Lyric Movement for viola and small orchestra (very small, just one each of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and strings) was one of Holst’s last works, written in 1933 for the pioneering viola player Lionel Tertis, who gave the first performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult on 18 March 1934. With its shifting harmonies and haunted half-lights, this is an epitome of his late orchestral style; the work might almost have been called ‘Nocturne’. Here Holst achieves a remarkable eloquence, the clarity of his textures and the soaring solo viola reflecting an authority he had been searching for all his life.

from notes by Lewis Foreman © 2001