Almost without exception, 1931 had been a disappointing year for Holst. The three great works composed during the previous year either had missed their mark with audiences or were awaiting premiere performances. There were continued anxieties connected with the revisions, rehearsals, and performances of Hammersmith. A Choral Fantasia had received a cold reception from both audiences and critics, and no performance of his chamber opera The Tale of the Wandering Scholar was on the horizon. Holst was also concerned about the release of The Bells, the motion picture for which he had composed incidental music.

Third North American Trip

It is no wonder, then, when offered the position of Horatio Appleton Lamb Foundation lecturer in composition at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, starting in February 1932, Holst enthusiastically accepted. His salary for one semester's work was $3,000, more than the average American family income for an entire year and an especially hefty sum considering that the world was in a deep economic depression. On the heels of this invitation, he also received one from Serge Koussevitzky, music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, to guest-conduct a series of three concerts that January. Koussevitzky, who had been in Boston since 1924, routinely took a two-week break following the holidays, bringing in guest conductors who were often also composers. Among the orchestra's previous guest conductors were Sir Thomas Beecham, Maurice Ravel, and Arthur Honegger.