Holst Hall JAGS

Gustav Holst taught at JAGS for over fifteen years, from 1904 until 1920. During this time he composed 'The Planets' and choral music and singing developed into a core part of school life. Holst wrote various works for the school, including a setting of Tennyson's poems 'Songs from a Princess'. By 1916 a school orchestra emerged for the first time, and in 1920 JAGS girls participated in Holst's fourth Thaxted Festival in Suffolk. A series of commemorative stained glass windows was installed in 1969 and the Holst Hall is still a key music making space over ninety years after Holst's last visit.