Holst: In the Bleak Midwinter
Special Guests
Acclaimed director Tony Palmer joins us to celebrate the 150th birthday of Cheltenham-born composer, Gustav Holst
Celebrated composer, Gustav Holst, was born in Cheltenham on 21st September, 1874, and is best known for the orchestral suite The Planets. As part of a town-wide celebration on his 150th birthday, we are pleased to present a special screening of this biographical documentary, followed by a Q&A with acclaimed director Tony Palmer.
Holst led an extraordinary life; he taught himself Sanskrit, lived in a street of brothels in Algiers, cycled into the Sahara Desert and allied himself during the First World War with a ‘red priest’ who pinned on the door of his church “prayers at noon for the victims of Imperial Aggression”.
Palmer’s film combines wonderful renditions of some of his best-known works with insightful interviews, including Holst’s daughter Imogen and former colleagues and pupils of his.
SPECIAL GUESTS: Legendary, award-winning director, Tony Palmer, returns to Cheltenham for a post-film Q&A.
“IT IS A MARVELLOUS, EPIC FILM (THAT) TELLS THE STORY OF THIS STRANGE, BRILLIANT MAN.”
– Simon Heffer, Sunday Telegraph
Tivoli Cheltenham
(Operated by Everyman Cinemas)
137 mins
Country: UK
Language: English
Year: 2009
Genre: Music/ Documentary
Recommended: 15+
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Director: Tony Palmer
Cast: Imogen Holst, Katherine Jenkins, Kiri Te Kanawa, Russell Watson, Barbara Dickson & Troy Donockley, Máiréad Nesbit & Celtic Woman, Gloucester Cathedral Choir, St Paul’s Girls’ School Orchestra & Yeo Yat-Soon (conductor), National Children’s Choir Of Taipei
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