It is not known when Holst composed these five short works for violin and piano, but they were published separately by various houses between 1902 and 1904: ‘Lied ohne Worte’ and ‘A Spring Song’ appeared in ‘The Vocalist’ in January and April 1903 respectively (‘Lied ohne Worte’ was printed in the same periodical in December 1902 under the title’s French equivalent of ‘Chant sans Paroles’); ‘Greeting’ and ‘Maya’ were published by Novello, the former work in 1903, the latter in 1904; and ‘Valse-Étude’ was printed in 1904 by Willcocks & Co. Ltd. Of the five, only the ‘Valse-Étude’ is known to have received a public performance during Holst’s lifetime, and upon the title-page of the published score was emblazoned the legend “Dedicated to and Played by/Miss Marie Hall”. Marie Hall also made, in 1924, a recording of the work for The Gramophone Company with the pianist Marguerite Tilleard.

 

The Five Pieces are published here as a set for the first time. The edition is prepared to the highest modern standards of scholarship and includes an appended set of Editorial Notes, which incorporates full details of the sources used and bibliographic references; a Summary Explanation of Editorial Policy; and an Editorial Commentary, in which each alteration to the composer’s autograph is explained and the reasons for the alteration given.

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