During 1923–1927, Holst composed no band music, though he remained close to the medium. This doesn't mean that he had no interest writing for bands; circumstances simply pointed him in other directions.

First North American Visit

In the autumn of 1922, Holst received two offers from the University of Michigan School of Music at Ann Arbor: (1) guest-conducting at their annual May Festival in 1923 and (2) a professorship there. The first offer was probably instigated by Frederick A. Stock (1872–1942), conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, one of two orchestras that gave the American premiere of The Planets on December 31, 1920. The second offer, which he considered but ultimately rejected, was probably through Albert A. Stanley (1851–1932), an American organist and music educator who had recently acquired professor emeritus status at the university. Stanley had founded the university's May Festival in 1894, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra had been the featured ensemble there since 1905. The initial offer for guestconducting was for $1,000, but Holst asked for an extra $600 so that Isobel could accompany him. The university actually did better than that. In a letter dated February 10, 1923, Charles Albert Sink (1879–1972), secretary and business manager of the School of Music, gave Holst the good news that the university decided to increase that amount to $2,000.

The good news did not reach Holst, however, until after the composer had suffered a cataclysmic fall. On February 11 (the day following Sink's correspondence), while conducting a rehearsal at University College in Reading, Holst fell from a makeshift podium and landed on his head.