Discovery shows that Holst played to sheep

Journalist David Bailey has discovered an unfinished film project about Gustav Holst, the composer most known for his Planets suite.

The film, made in the 1970s, has been hidden in media archives and it was an email from a member of the original production team that led Mr Bailey to its discovery. The footage includes interviews with Holst's daughter, Imogen and with composers Herbert Howells, Edmund Rubbra and Sir Michael Tippett.

This video provides an insight into Holst's student days at the Royal College of Music. Too poor to afford the rail fare from London to Cheltenham he would practice his trombone on the long walk home "in whatever fields he came across he thought were quiet" Rubbra discloses. Holst went on to become a professional orchestral player and lead a double life as a composer.

Holst became music master at St Paul's School for Girls in 1905 and some of his former pupils share their memories of the composer in this video. Anyone who knew Holst is now deceased and therefore the discovery of this lost video is a valuable tool with which to learn of the life of the composer.