91Èȱ¬

Rare film footage giving a unique insight into the life of Cheltenham-born composer Gustav Holst has been discovered by a µþµþ°äÌý³Ò±ô´Ç³Ü³¦±ð²õ³Ù±ð°ù²õ³ó¾±°ù±ð reporter.

The colour footage has never before been seen and includes interviews with Holst's daughter Imogen, composers Herbert Howells and Edmund Rubbra – all of whom died in the Eighties – and composer Sir Michael Tippett who died in 1998.

The interviews were recorded for an unfinished film project in the late Seventies.

The films reveal how the composer of The Planets used to walk from London to Cheltenham with a trombone slung over his back, and was once reprimanded by a Cotswold farmer for frightening his sheep.

Former students reveal that when he was a singing teacher he was known affectionately by his pupils as Gussy.

The films were unearthed after an investigation by 91Èȱ¬ Gloucestershire journalist David Bailey.

He was alerted to their possible existence after getting an email from a member of the original production company.

Further enquiries and investigations led him to the archives of the Holst Birthplace Museum and the eventual rediscovery of the unfinished footage.

David Bailey said: "It's amazing to think that this footage has been hidden away all this time. The films give us a real insight into the life of Holst and what sort of man he really was. They include some fantastic interviews with the people who knew him."

The footage features Holst's daughter Imogen talking to interviewer Tony Richards about her father's early years in Cheltenham and his "double life" as a composer and teacher.

She goes on to discuss his later life and reveals that he had wanted to donate his body to science after his death, but his wish was not granted.

Also featured is Mrs Rosamund Gurney who performed in the choral section of The Planets in the famous 1927 performance at Cheltenham Town Hall.

She recalls Holst as being "full of nervous energy" and wondered how "this little man" could ever have created Mars – "one of the noisiest pieces of music ever written!"

It was Holst's daughter Imogen, a composer herself, who in the Seventies instigated the filming project.

David Bailey said: "Watching the films it's obvious that Imogen was extremely proud of her father's work. It's great to think that the footage is finally seeing the light of day after all these years."

Extracts from the films will be shown for the first time on 91Èȱ¬ Points West Breakfast bulletins on Friday 24 July.

There will also be extensive coverage of this exciting find on 91Èȱ¬ Radio Gloucestershire's Breakfast programme with Mark Cummings on Friday morning.

The films are available to view on the 91Èȱ¬ Gloucestershire website, bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire.

NL2