''Beni Mora'' is a three-movement suite of music in E minor for large orchestra, by

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

. The first performance was at the

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

, London, on 1 May 1912, conducted by the composer. The work was inspired by music Holst heard in Algeria during a holiday in 1908. The constant repetition of one theme from Arabic folk music in the last movement has been described as a precursor of modern minimalism. The piece also includes dance rhythms and wistful, slow sections, and makes strong use of woodwinds and percussion. ''Beni Mora'' has been recorded several times by British orchestras, most recently in 2011.

Background

In 1908 Holst, suffering from asthma,

neuritis Neuritis () is inflammation of a nerve or the general inflammation of the peripheral nervous system. Inflammation, and frequently concomitant demyelination, cause impaired transmission of neural signals and leads to aberrant nerve function. Neuri ...

and depression, took a holiday in Algeria on medical advice. This trip inspired the suite ''Beni Mora'', which incorporated music he heard in the Algerian streets. While in Algeria he listened to a local musician playing the same phrase on a bamboo flute for over two hours non-stop. He took the title from the setting of Robert Hichens's 1904 novel ''The Garden of Allah''. The first movement was originally a stand-alone piece, ''Oriental Dance'' (1909), dedicated to the music critic Edwin Evans. In 1910 Holst added the other two movements.

Structure

The work is scored, in the words of Michael Kennedy "most piquantly and colourfully".Kennedy, Michael (1992), notes to Lyrita CD SRCD222 The three movements are titled, First Dance, Second Dance, and Finale: "In the Street of the

Ouled Naïl The Ouled Naïl (; ar, أولاد نايل) are an Arab-Berber tribe and a tribal confederation living in the Ouled Naïl Range, Algeria. They are found mainly in Bou Saâda, M'Sila and Djelfa, but there is also a significant number of them in ...

s."

First Dance

The dance opens with a broadly-phrased melody on the strings into which a strongly rhythmic figure interrupts, played by trumpets, trombones and tambourine. A lively dance rhythm follows, with solo parts for cor anglais, oboe and flute. The rhythm slows, and the opening string tune returns, before the full orchestra resumes the quick dance theme. The dance closes quietly. The movement typically takes between 5½ and 6½ minutes in performance, though in a 1924 recording with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

the composer took it at a much quicker tempo, ending the movement within 4½ minutes: see table below.

Second Dance

This is the shortest of the three movements, typically taking a little under four minutes in performance. It is an ''

allegretto In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

'' with lighter scoring than the outer movements. It begins with a rhythm for solo timpani, over which a solo bassoon enters with a quiet theme. The gentle mood is maintained by a flute solo, interrupted by the timpani. The movement, quiet almost throughout, ends ''

pianissimo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependin ...

''.

Finale: "In the Street of the Ouled Naïls"

The movement opens softly with phrases of indeterminate key until a solo flute enters with an eight-note theme repeated 163 times for the rest of the movement. Against the theme the full orchestra plays other dance rhythms. The volume rises to a climax and then sinks back to softness as the movement comes to an end.

Reception

At the premiere the work received a mixed welcome. Some of the audience hissed and one critic wrote, "We do not ask for Biskra dancing girls in Langham Place". On the other hand, the reviewer in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' observed, "Mr Von Holst's suite is compiled from genuine Arab tunes treated with extraordinary skill, especially in the vivid ''finale'', in which a number of dance tunes are combined to illustrate a night scene in Biskra.""Music", ''The Times'', 2 May 1912, p. 8 Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote of ''Beni Mora'', "if it had been played in Paris rather than London it would have given its composer a European reputation, and played in Italy would probably have caused a riot." More recently, the critic Andrew Clements has written of the "proto-minimalist fashion" of the repeated tune in the finale.Clements, Andrew
"Holst: The Planets; Beni Mora; Japanese Suite"
''The Guardian'', 17 February 2011

Background

Structure

First Dance

Second Dance

Finale: "In the Street of the Ouled Naïls"

Reception

Recordings

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading