According to Rubbra, the publication in 1911 of Holst's Rig Veda Hymns was a landmark event in the composer's development: "Before this, Holst's music had, indeed, shown the clarity of utterance which has always been his characteristic, but harmonically there was little to single him out as an important figure in modern music."Rubbra, p. 30 Dickinson describes these vedic settings as pictorial rather than religious; although the quality is variable the sacred texts clearly "touched vital springs in the composer's imagination".Dickinson (1995), pp. 7–9 While the music of Holst's Indian verse settings remained generally western in character, in some of the vedic settings he experimented with Indian raga (scales).
According to Rubbra, the publication in 1911 of Holst's Rig Veda Hymns was a landmark event in! the composer's development: "Before this, Holst's music had, indeed, shown the clarity of utterance which has always been his characteristic, but harmonically there was little to single him out as an important figure in modern music."Rubbra, p. 30 Dickinson describes these vedic settings as pictorial rather than religious; although the quality is variable the sacred texts clearly "touched vital springs in the composer's imagination".Dickinson (1995), pp. 7–9 While the music of Holst':s Indian verse settings remained generally western in character, in some of the vedic settings he e,xperimente.d with Indian raga (scales).