THE GUSTAV HOLST SOCIETY TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY 2024 Charity number: 1175057
THE GUSTAV HOLST SOCIETY YEAR ENDED 31 MAY 2024 REFERENCE AND ADMINISTR_ATIVE DETAILS REGISTERED CHARITY: 1175057 HONORARY PRESIDENT. Martyn Brabbins HONORARY VICE PRESIDENTS: Alan Gibbs Raymond Head Colin Matthews Adrian Partington TRUSTEES. Chris Cope, Chairman John Wright, Vice Chairman John Graham OFFICERSI MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE". Chris Cope, Chairman and Editor of Newsletter John Graham Marina Moore Vacant.. Treasurer Vacant: Secretary PRINCIPAL OFFICE: Hammetts, Kings Nympton, Devon EX37 9ST Tel: 01769 580041 BANKERS. Lloyds Bank plc, PO Box 1000, White Hart Street, High Wycombe, Bucks BX1 1 LT WEBSITE: www.holstsociet -or ACCOUNTANTS: ets Lime Court Pathfields Business Park South Molton Devon EX36 3LH
THE GUSTAV HOLST SOCIETY REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES AND OUTLOOK FOR THE YEAR 2024125 Membershi The Society had 128 members at 3181 May 2024 (a 20/0 decrease on 2023 - 131) which included 18 (18 2023) honorary members. Our honorary membership includes the President, the Vice Presidents, the Holst Victorian House, St Paul's Girls, School, the English Music Festival, the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society and the Thaxted Festival, together with professional musicians who have supported Holst's music. In addition, in October 2024, the trustees decided that the overseas secretaries should be granted honorary membership, particularly because a number had encountered difficulties paying their subscription due to exchange control issues. We offer our thanks to all our members for their continuing support. Planned recordin For the year 2024125, the Society had a number of plans for recording works by Holst, particularly those that had never been recorded before, We aim to sponsor a new recording every year. 1. EM Records recorded all Holst's works composed for St Paul's Girls, School (SPGS), including the Vision of Dame Christian, the Brook Green Suite, the St Paul's Suite, the Seven Choruses from the Alcestis of Euripides, the Playground Song and the Gavotte (which Holst withdrew from the Brook Green Suite) over the weekend of 41h15th November 2023. The recording took place at SPGS with the BBC Concert Orchestra under former director of music at SPGS, Leigh O'Hara. The Society was unable to provide funding for the recording. However, we understand that costs were largely met by parents of SPGS, 777 pupils and the school's alumnae. The recording appeared in the autumn of 2024, coinciding with Holst's 150th birthday. 2. In conjunction with Paul Hindmarsh, the Society planned a major recording of Holst's music for brass band, together with works for brass by his daughter Imogen. In fact, Holst only composed one work for brass band, namely the Moorside Suite. There were two other works for concert band which have been re- arranged for brass band. We also identified a number of orchestral works which were well suited to arrangement for brass. These arrangements were commissioned.
The final list of works included the First Suite in E Flat, the Second Suite in F, A Fugal Overture, the Ballet Music from the Perfect Fool, and A Moorside Suite. The works by Imogen were The Unfortunate Traveller and The Glory of the West. The recording was made at the end of May 2024. The band was the Tredegar Town Band conducted by their musical director lan Porthouse. Our President, Martyn Brabbins, conducted the recording of the Moorside Suite. The recording was on the Doyen label. The Society provided substantial funding towards the costs of approximately £10,000. The recording appeared in the autumn of 2024, coinciding with Holst's 1501h birthday. 3. As part of the Holst 150 celebrations, the Society also planned a recording of music for violin and piano by Holst and his contemporaries. The recording was made in May 2024. The works by Holst were as follows.'_ Song of the Night (premier recording for violin and piano). Invocation, arranged for violin and piano by Hannah Roper (first recording in this arrangement). Lyric Movement, arranged for violin and piano by Hannah Roper (first recording in this arrangement). We also planned works by William Hurlstone, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Rebecca Clarke and Ethel Barns. The soloists were'.- Violin - Hannah Roper Pianist- Martin Jacoby Soprano- Emma Tring Harp - Valeria Clarke The recording, on the Albion label, appeared in the autumn of 2024, coinciding with Holst's 150th birthday. This recording was fully funded by the Holst Society. Events in the ear to 31 Ma 2024 The Society publishes a bi-monthly newsletter. The following information is taken from the six issues which appeared during the year.
Jul 2023 newsletter BBC Proms As usual, there was just one work by Holst, namely the Planets. There was not much British music. Composers featured included Britten, Coleridge-Taylor (no less than six works, more than any other British composer), Elgar, Handel, Tippett, Vaughan Wiliams and Walton. This was the year of Rachmaninov's 150th anniversary. Twelve works were featured. Three Choirs Festival Took place at Gloucester. Works by Holst included his Short Festival Te Deum, Ode to Death and Lyric Movement. All Saints Church. Cheltenham The Hill organ in the church is now 150 years old and is in urgent need of repair. This was the instrument on which Holst learned to play. The church needs to raise a huge amount of money (well into six figures) in order to restore the organ. Number 10 The Terrace Barnes SW13 This was the property where Holst and his wife lived for five years from 1908. We reported that it had recently been sold for £2.9m. This was where Holst composed Savitri and the Four Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda. tember 2023 newsletter Holst's birthda concert The annual concert arranged by the Holst Victorian House was due to take place on Sunday 1 October. It was to be given by musicians from St Paul's Girls, School in London where Holst taught for over 30 years. The school would be providing choir, orchestra, soloists and conductors. The music would include the Brook Green Suite, movements from the Planets (for piano duet) and the Four Songs for Voice and Violin. Holst's trombone We published a picture of Holst's trombone which presently resides in the museum at the Royal College of Music. Holst played with the Scottish Orchestra for about four years at the beginning of the last century and this was the trombone that he played. November 2023 newsletter We reported that the recording at SPGS (see above) had taken place over the weekend of 41h15lh
Breakfast on 3 In every issue, I set out the music by Holst broadcast by the BBC at Breakfast on 3. Certainly, Holst is holding out well largely, I think, due to the input by the resident DJ Petroc Trelawny. I do write to him from time to time suggesting a particular work by Holst that the BBC might have forgotten. Janua 2024 Holst 150 And so we moved into the 150th anniversary year, Holst being born on 21 September 1874. Recordin s (violinlbrass) I was able to report that the two recordings (mentioned above) had received sufficient funding to enable these recordings to go ahead in the spring of 2024. Morle Colle Morley College was where Holst devoted many years as director of music. As part of the 150th celebrations, the College held a creative and fun afternoon on Saturday 10th February when it was planned to explore choral masterpieces dedicated to Morley College, namely the Short Festival Te Deum and A Festival Chime. Billie Eilish I mentioned that Billie Eilish's new album Happier than Ever included a song entitled 'Gold Wing, based upon one of Holst's Hymns from the Rig Veda. In fact, the song is a note- for-note representation of Holst's hymn. According to Twitter, it describes the song as obscure, but also wonderful. Twitter says that 'in typical Holst style, it is full of poignant harmony and evocative orchestration and draws on the church chorale style,. Talks I mentioned that I had been booked to give five talks this year on the subject of 'ls there more to Holst than The Planets?, The first was to be at the Salisbury Music Society and the second at the English Music Festival. March 2024 Annual General Meetin The Annual General Meeting took place on Sunday 10 March at the Kitson Hall at st Mary's Church in Barnes. In addition, there were three musical events arranged for that day. Immediately preceding the AGM, the Barnes Concert Band gave a concert in St Mary's Church which included Holst's Second Suite in F. Later that afternoon, Holst scholar and expert Neil Arthur Williams gave an entertaining talk entitled 'The Global Popular CuSture Phenomenon of The Planets by Gustav Holst,.
The evening concert given by the Holst Singers included Holst's Ave Maria, the Nunc Dimittis and 'Lord who has made thine own,. 'Ben and Imo, I mentioned a new play called 'Ben and Imo, being staged at the Swan Theatre in Stratford upon Avon. The play originally written in 2013 explored the working relationship between Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst. There was to be a limited run. Heraklion Piano Festival Holst Society member and composerlarranger Paul Sarcich was conducting a concert at the Fifth Heraklion Piano Festival in Crete on 11 February. The concert featured Paul's arrangement of The Planets for four grand pianos and eight players. Another performance of the 16-hands arrangement was to be given at Morley College on 7th June. Professor Simon Heffer I was pleased to report that the journalist and broadcaster Simon Heffer had joined the Society as an honorary member. Professor Heffer is a great supporter of British music and has written extensively on a number of English composers, including Holst whom he regards as one of our greatest composers. Overseas corres ondents I reported that Tom Clarke, formerly of Cheltenham, who had emigrated to Ballarat North in Australia, had agreed to become the Society's first Australasian overseas correspondent. l also mentioned that Joe Yang, our Taiwanese overseas correspondent, had written regarding four concerts in Taiwan featuring Holst's music due to take place between May and December. Charles Villiers Stanford March 2024 marked the centenary of the death of Stanford who was Holst's teacher of composition at the Royal College of Music. On Saturday 27th April, there was to be a memorial evensong service at Westminster Abbey followed by a drinks reception hosted by the Dean and a gala dinner in the evening. 2024 newsletter New recordin I was pleased to announce that both the violin and brass recordings would take place later that month. En lish Music Festival Due to take place at the end of May and featured a number of works by Holst. including the Cotswold Symphony in F, A Song of the Night, the third group of Hymns from the Rig
Veda, 'This have I done for my true love,, '1 love my love., Greeting and finally my talk on Holst on 27th May. ar Societ l announced that the Holst and Elgar societies had reached an agreement with regard to reciprocal membership. However, the agreement had yet to be endorsed by the Council of the Elgar Society. Classic FM'S Hall of Fame In the top 300, Holst featured just twice. The Planets remained at No 7 with the St Paul's Suite up two places at 273. Ornulf's Dra This work by Holst was recorded for the first time on the EM label under the title 'La Belle Dame,. Other composers featured included Roger Quilter, Frederick Delius, Norman O'Neill, Cyril Scott, Havergal Brian and Alexander Mackenzie. This recording has since been released, BBC Proms The Proms programme had recently been published. The programme included fourworks by Holst, as opposed to the usual single outing of The Planets. The works to be performed included The Evening Watch, The Cloud Messenger, Hammersmith and The Planets itself. Philippa Tudor (honorary member of the Society) and I had had a meeting with David Pickard, the director of music at the BBC Proms at the BBC in March 2023, when Mr Pickard gave us an hour of his time during which we extolled the virtues of Holst and reminded Mr Pickard that next year was Holst 150. Concert listln In each issue of the Holst Society newsletter, we include concerts in the UK and abroad featuring Holst's music. As members will have noticed, during the last year or two, the number of concerts featuring Holst's music has increased substantially, no doubt due to the public becoming conscious of Holst's 150th anniversary. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the Society to thank Karen Fletcher, our publicist, who puts together the complex listings every issue. This is an invaluable service to the Society and l am sure that members will have taken advantage of the listings to attend concerts in their locality.
THE GUSTAV HOLST SOCIETY TRUSTEES, REPORT The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the charity for the year ended 31st May 2024. The trustees confimi that both the report and the financial statements comply with the current statutory requirements, the requirements of the charity's governing document and the provisions of Charities SORP FRS 102 Second Edition October 2019 Accounting and Reporting by Charities.. Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 181 January 2019). The Legal and Administrative Information on page 1 forms part of this report. Ob ectives and activities The Society's objectives are to promote public education and appreciation of the life and works of Gustav Holst. The charity carries out these objectives by.'_ Sponsorship of public performances of music by Holst. Promotion of recordings of music by Holst, hitherto unrecorded. structure overnance and mana ement The charity is called The Gustav Holst Society and is registered with the Charity Commission as number 1175057. On a day-to-day basis, the charity trades under the name, The Holst Society. The charity was formed in 2017 as an unincorporated association. It was re-registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in October 2017 and the current constitution can be found on the Society's website. Trustees and officers of the Society who served during the year are detailed on page 1 of this report. Trustees are elected by members at the AGM, which is open to all members. New trustees are recruited generally by invitation, or by seeking volunteers at general meetings. Nominations of additional trustees may be made at or before the AGM, for consideration at that meeting. New trustees are briefed on their legal obligations under charity law, the Charity Commission Guidance on Public Benefit and are also made aware of the charity's constitution, decision-making processes and financial position. The trustees meet on a regular basis and are responsible for all operating decisions. Achievements and erformance The review of activities commencing on page 2 forms part of this report.
Financial review Income from subscriptions was 17 % more than that for the preceding year at £3,921. Bank balances rose to £7,895 from £1,249, a year earlier, largely due to donations made in respect of recordings. Risks and reserves The trustees have reviewed the risks to which the Society is exposed and consider them to be negligible. In the year 2024125, the Society is likely to be incurring substantial expenditure with regard to the recording of Holst's music for brass band and for violin and piano. The Society will be seeking external funding. The trustees have agreed that before embarking upon either recording programmes, all anticipated funding is secured in advance. If not, the recordings will be deferred. statement of trustees, res onslbllltiesl accountin olicies 1. Accountin Policies The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otheNise stated in the notes to these accounts. Accountin Convention The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the charity's governing document, the Charities Act 2011, FRS 102 "The Financial Reporting standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" ("FRS 102") and the Charities SORP "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (effective 1 January 2019). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102. The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows. The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £. 2. Reserrfes The Trustees, objectives are to build up sufficient reserves to enable grants and donations to be made to activities relating to the works of Gustav Holst. They anticipate that future subscription income will enable it to continue as a going
concern. The Trustees will continue to monitor the reserves policy and if necessary make the required amendments to enable the Society to fulfil its objectives in this regard. 3. Members, Subscri tions Subscription income for the year represents members, annual subscriptions received. 4. Fees and Ex enses No trustee received remuneration or fees during the year. 5. Em lo There were no employees during the year. 6. Reserves Balances Unrestricted funds Restricted funds (8,842) 7,737 1,070 7. Restricted Funds Transfer between funds Balance at 1 June 2023 Income Balance at 31 May 2024 Expenses Recording of Holst's sacred music 7,737 7,737 7,737 7,737 10
THE GUSTAV HOLST SOCIETY STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MAY 2024 2024 Unrestricted funds 2024 Restricted funds £ 2024 Total 2023 Total INCOME Members, Subscriptions Donations Gift Aid CD Sales Ticket Sales Book Sales Grants Lectures TOTAL 3,921 3,921 4,737 3,350 1,131 819 146 2,882 37 4,737 52 52 3,000 3,000 150 150 EXPENDITURE Artwork Subscriptions Grants Concert Listings CD Purchases Book Purchase Advertising Sheet Music Purchase Sheet Music Hire Admin services Accommodation Travel expenses Loan Interest Concert Tickets Musicians, Fees Venue Fees Arranger's Fees EventBrite Fees Web Development Accountancy Fees Postage AGM Expenses For EMF, not Holst Society Bank Charges TOTAL 600 200 1,300 442 191 600 200 1,300 442 191 60 750 595 849 665 19 210 200 115 40 664 159 665 1,430 181 210 200 115 40 664 159 27 2,289 345 345 43 140 100 1,278 118 100 1,278 118 72 300 130 71 68 Surplus/(Deficit) for the year Transfers between funds Net Movement in Funds Total Funds Brought Forward Total Funds Carried Forward (2,591) 7.737 5,146 1,428 (2,519) 7,737 5,146 7679
THE GUSTAV HOLST SOCIETY STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES A_S AT 31 M_AY 2024 2024 2023 CURRENT ASSETS Cash at bank: Current Restricted 203 477 772 CURRENT LIABILITIES Loan NET ASSETSI(LIABILITIES) (6,2_51) CHARITY FUNDS Unrestricted funds Restricted funds TOTAL FUNDS AT 31 MAY 2024 {1.105) (6,251) The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on signed on their behalf by: March 2025 to be Christopher Cope (Chair of Trustees) 12
ACCOUNTANTS, REPORT In accordance with the terms of our engagement we have prepared for your approval these financial statements of The Gustav Holst Society for the Year Ended 31 May 2024 from the accounting records and from information and explanations you have given to us. As a practising member firm of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), we are subject to its ethical and other professional requirements which are detailed at icaew.com/regulations. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the financial information of The Gustav Holst Society and state those matters that we have agreed to state to you in this report in accordance with the guidance of ICAEW as detailed at icaew.comlcompilation. Azets Lime Court Pathfields Business Park South Molton Devon EX36 3LH Date.. .March 2025 13