Minerva Scientifica Birthday Celebration: Imogen Holst PODCAST
12th April 2026
Imogen Holst
Composer and Conductor
BORN 12 April 1907 ,Richmond, Surrey
Electric Voice Theatre recorded a song for International Women’s Day this year. It was performed as part of our Winter Carols by Candlelight performance at Conway Hall, London in December 2025. We plan to perform more for our projects this year.
“My father gave me an acre of Land” arranged by Imogen Holst (1907 – 1984) from Twenty Traditional British Folk Songs 1968 for three unaccompanied equal voices. Rolf Gardiner gave Holst permission to reproduce the traditional tune and words, collected by H. Balfour Gardiner as sung by Mr. William Mason at Easton, near Winchester, in 1906.
click on the blue button to listen to the PODCAST Episode 9: Another Holst in Thaxted
“Women of Science & Music: 30 celebrations”
Imogen Holst (1907 – 1984) was influential in the development of music education and community music-making in England in the twentieth century. She was a pioneer, composing throughout her career for instruments such as brass band, pipes, recorders and hand bells, bringing these instruments into the art music or cultivated music worlds. She was one of the first women to establish herself as a conductor.
You can find more information, music and a podcast about Imogen Holst here
The podcast explores her life and work and connections to both Aldeburgh and the Thaxted Festival in Essex. We are grateful to Thaxted researcher Michael Goatcher whose work has greatly informed this podcast.
SPEAKERS:
Judith Ratcliffe, Archivist at Britten Pears Arts in Aldeburgh
Peter Donovan, Chairman of Thaxted Festival
MUSIC: by Imogen Holst for unaccompanied voices
- “A Sweet Country Life” (1937) an arrangement of a Gloucestershire folk song collected by Cecil Sharp
- “Round” (1926) on a poem by Cheng Hao (translated from the Chinese) for equal voices
- “Set me as a seal upon thine heart” (1946) text from Song of Songs 8:6&7 one of the“Four Canons for Winsome”
Performed by: – Frances M Lynch, Alice Privett (Sopranos); Simone Ibbett-Brown, Margaret Cameron (Mezzos); David Sheppard (Countertenor); Julian Stocker (Tenor); Gwion Thomas (Baritone)
These are the first recordings ever made of these works, created from recordings by the individual singers during lockdown 2020, and compiled by Clarke & Lynch at Birnam Studios, London.
We are grateful to the Holst Foundation for their permission to record these works and to Britten Pears Arts for providing the unpublished scores. 
The series presenter is Frances M Lynch, Artistic Director of electric voice theatre.
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