Holst’s famous piano, a Collard & Collard of the 1850s on which much of The Planets was composed, came alive this week when local musician Robin A. Smith played a selection of music including Mendelssohn, Brahms, Britten, English folk songs, Beethoven and Spirituals, as well as beautiful interpretations.
Robin is joined by the singer Hannah Hughes for some of the pieces.
We’re sure you’ll recognise the final Holst piece and hope you’ll enjoy this rare opportunity to hear Holst’s piano in the YouTube clip below.
Robin explains the reasons for his impromptu recital at the Museum:
“I live here in Cheltenham and am extremely passionate about local music and supporting all arts. My online concerts at Chapel Arts have shown me how powerful music is at this time and how it heals as well as empowers. My concert this time, however, is purely to raise some money for the Museum . The video quality is not the very best … but hopefully the music will shine through“.
The Museum’s fundraising campaign has received much generous support and to our current donors we again send our thanks. If you wish to join the donors please see our Support Us page.
We are grateful to Andrew Auster of the Cheltenham Music Festival Society (CMFS) for arranging Robin’s recital, and to our Volunteers who prepared the building and piano for the day.
