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The Planets

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The Planets

The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and reflects its astrological significance. The premiere of The Planets was at the Queen's Hall, London, on 29 September 1918, conducted by Holst's friend Adrian Boult before an invited audience of about 250 people. Three concerts at which movements from the suite were played were given in 1919 and early 1920. The first complete performance at a public concert was given at the Queen's Hall on 15 November 1920 by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Albert Coates. The innovative nature of Holst's music caused some initial hostility among a minority of critics, but the suite quickly became and has remained popular, influential and widely performed. The composer conducted two recordings of the work, and it has been recorded at least 80 times subsequently by conductors, choirs and orchestras from the UK and internationally.

Infobox

Opus
32
Based on
Astrology
Composed
1914 (1914)–17
Movements
Seven
Scoring
Orchestra and female chorus
Date
29 September 1918 (1918-09-29)
Location
Queen's Hall, London
Conductor
Adrian Boult

Tables

· Recordings
Orchestra:
Orchestra:
Conductor:
Orchestra:
Holst
LSO
Holst
LSO
Stokowski
NBCSO
Boult
BBCSO
Sargent
BBCSO
Karajan
VPO
Steinberg
BSO
Mackerras
RLPO
Gardiner
PO
Rattle
BPO
Jurowski
LPO
Harding
BRSO
Year:
Year:
Conductor:
Year:
Holst
1922–23
Holst
1926
Stokowski
1943
Boult
1945
Sargent
1957
Karajan
1961
Steinberg
1971
Mackerras
1988
Gardiner
1997
Rattle
2006
Jurowski
2010
Harding
2023
Mars:
Mars:
Conductor:
Mars:
Holst
06:13
Holst
06:12
Stokowski
06:52
Boult
06:58
Sargent
06:56
Karajan
07:02
Steinberg
06:37
Mackerras
07:01
Gardiner
08:03
Rattle
07:25
Jurowski
06:31
Harding
08:22
Venus:
Venus:
Conductor:
Venus:
Holst
08:04
Holst
07:19
Stokowski
08:45
Boult
07:52
Sargent
09:11
Karajan
08:21
Steinberg
07:25
Mackerras
08:05
Gardiner
07:37
Rattle
08:59
Jurowski
06:52
Harding
08:48
Mercury:
Mercury:
Conductor:
Mercury:
Holst
03:36
Holst
03:33
Stokowski
03:36
Boult
03:40
Sargent
03:33
Karajan
03:59
Steinberg
03:59
Mackerras
03:56
Gardiner
03:51
Rattle
04:02
Jurowski
03:46
Harding
04:14
Jupiter:
Jupiter:
Conductor:
Jupiter:
Holst
07:04
Holst
07:02
Stokowski
07:05
Boult
07:50
Sargent
07:45
Karajan
07:38
Steinberg
08:01
Mackerras
07:36
Gardiner
07:17
Rattle
08:02
Jurowski
07:06
Harding
08:23
Saturn:
Saturn:
Conductor:
Saturn:
Holst
07:00
Holst
06:58
Stokowski
09:05
Boult
08:09
Sargent
09:35
Karajan
08:33
Steinberg
07:45
Mackerras
09:20
Gardiner
09:13
Rattle
09:35
Jurowski
07:24
Harding
10:57
Uranus:
Uranus:
Conductor:
Uranus:
Holst
06:06
Holst
05:57
Stokowski
05:41
Boult
05:41
Sargent
06:01
Karajan
05:47
Steinberg
05:24
Mackerras
06:10
Gardiner
05:34
Rattle
06:04
Jurowski
05:38
Harding
06:12
Neptune:
Neptune:
Conductor:
Neptune:
Holst
05:31
Holst
05:35
Stokowski
09:50
Boult
06:23
Sargent
07:12
Karajan
07:38
Steinberg
06:47
Mackerras
06:59
Gardiner
08:11
Rattle
07:02
Jurowski
05:49
Harding
09:49
Total time:
Total time:
Conductor:
Total time:
Holst
43:34
Holst
42:36
Stokowski
52:34
Boult
46:33
Sargent
50:11
Karajan
48:58
Steinberg
45:58
Mackerras
49:07
Gardiner
49:46
Rattle
51:09
Jurowski
43:04
Harding
56:48
Conductor:
Holst
Holst
Stokowski
Boult
Sargent
Karajan
Steinberg
Mackerras
Gardiner
Rattle
Jurowski
Harding
Orchestra:
LSO
LSO
NBCSO
BBCSO
BBCSO
VPO
BSO
RLPO
PO
BPO
LPO
BRSO
Year:
1922–23
1926
1943
1945
1957
1961
1971
1988
1997
2006
2010
2023
Mars:
06:13
06:12
06:52
06:58
06:56
07:02
06:37
07:01
08:03
07:25
06:31
08:22
Venus:
08:04
07:19
08:45
07:52
09:11
08:21
07:25
08:05
07:37
08:59
06:52
08:48
Mercury:
03:36
03:33
03:36
03:40
03:33
03:59
03:59
03:56
03:51
04:02
03:46
04:14
Jupiter:
07:04
07:02
07:05
07:50
07:45
07:38
08:01
07:36
07:17
08:02
07:06
08:23
Saturn:
07:00
06:58
09:05
08:09
09:35
08:33
07:45
09:20
09:13
09:35
07:24
10:57
Uranus:
06:06
05:57
05:41
05:41
06:01
05:47
05:24
06:10
05:34
06:04
05:38
06:12
Neptune:
05:31
05:35
09:50
06:23
07:12
07:38
06:47
06:59
08:11
07:02
05:49
09:49
Total time:
43:34
42:36
52:34
46:33
50:11
48:58
45:58
49:07
49:46
51:09
43:04
56:48

References

  1. Holst's earlier interest in Sanskrit texts, particularly the Rig Veda hymns, had led him to study the language and to co
  2. Short and the musicologist David Lambourn both comment that Holst's original title for his suite was "Seven Pieces for L
  3. This was the first public performance of Venus.
  4. This was the first time Neptune was heard in a public performance.
  5. In 1986 Imogen Holst wrote that "[f]or more than half a century, the main problem in Jupiter has been the difficulty of
  6. Short writes that despite reminiscences of the Pan motif in Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé and of Berlioz's Symphonie fantasti
  7. The choir sings alternating C minor and E major chords, and the musician David Owen Norris has commented that as the doo
  8. The anonymous critic was equally dismissive of Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole given at the same concert.
  9. The Hallé, conducted by Mark Elder (2001); Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by David Lloyd-Jones (2002); Roya
  10. Greene, p. 27
  11. The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/29/arts/music/holst-the-planets.html
  12. Short, p. 113
  13. Matthews, Colin. "Holst, Gustav(us Theodore von)", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, 2001. Retrieved 18 June
    https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000013252
  14. Quoted in Holst (1981), p. 48
  15. Bax, pp. 60–61
  16. Holst (1986), p. 32
  17. Short, p. 119; and Greene, p. 18
  18. Lambourn, David. "Henry Wood and Schoenberg", The Musical Times, August 1987, pp. 422–427 (subscription required); Archi
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/965003
  19. Short, p. 121
  20. Short, p. 122
  21. Leo, p. 58; and Head, Raymond. "Holst – Astrology and Modernism in 'The Planets'", Tempo, December 1993, pp. 15–22 (subs
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/945181
  22. Greene, p. 19
  23. Warrack, John. "Holst, Gustav Theodore"; Archived 20 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Oxford Dictionary of National Bio
    http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/33963?docPos=1
  24. Holst (1981), p. 50
  25. Boult (1973) p. 35
  26. Holst (1986), p. 159
  27. "London Concerts", The Musical Times, April 1919, p. 179 (subscription required) Archived 22 January 2019 at the Wayback
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/3701637
  28. Kennedy, p. 68
  29. Holst (1974), p. 125
  30. "London Concerts", The Musical Times, January 1920, p. 32 (subscription required) Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback M
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/908483
  31. "Music in the Provinces" Archived 22 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine, The Musical Times, 1 November 1920, p. 769; an
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/910715
  32. "London Concerts"'The Musical Times, December 1920, p. 821 (subscription required) Archived 22 January 2019 at the Wayba
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/910446
  33. "Winter Concerts: Plan for Season", The Times, 17 September 1923, p. 10; and "Music", The Observer, 14 October 1923, p.
  34. Vaughan Williams, Ralph. "Gustav Holst (Continued)", Music & Letters, October 1920, p. 314 (subscription required) Archi
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/726997
  35. "Combined part of 3rd and 4th flute"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20171225203331/http://hz.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/f/fb/IMSLP53290-PMLP33488-Holst-Planets.Flute34.pdf
  36. Holst (1921), unnumbered introductory page
  37. Holst (1921), pp. 1–2
  38. Holst (1921), p. 29
  39. Matthews, Colin (2011). Notes to Chandos CD CHSA5086 OCLC 887360432
    https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/887360432
  40. Short, pp. 123–124
  41. Holst (1921), p. 32
  42. Holst (1986), p. 34
  43. Greene, p. 47
  44. Short, p. 126
  45. Holst (1921), pp. 44–72
  46. Quoted in Greene, p. 52
  47. Holst (1986), pp. 34–35
  48. Notes to Cala CD CACD0526 OCLC 46880671; Notes to Avid CD AMSC 582 OCLC 45217594; and Notes to LPO CD LPO-0047 OCLC 8714
    https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46880671
  49. Foreman, Lewis (2001). Notes to Hyperion CD 55350-B OCLC 276175700
    https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/276175700
  50. Holst (1921), p. 78
  51. Holst (1921), p. 91
  52. Holst (1921), p. 112
  53. Holst (1921), pp. 113 and 122
  54. Holst (1921), p. 113
  55. Holst (1921), pp. 113–115
  56. Holst (1921), p. 131
  57. Short, pp. 130–131
  58. Holst (1921), p. 159
  59. Holst (1921), pp. 160–161
  60. Boult (1979), p. 32
  61. Short, p. 131
  62. Norris, David Owen. "The Planets" Archived 4 February 2024 at the Wayback Machine, Building a Library, BBC Radio 3 podca
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p027rvhn
  63. Weir William. "A Little Bit Softer Now, a Little Bit Softer Now …", Slate, 14 September 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2021
    https://slate.com/culture/2014/09/the-fade-out-in-pop-music-why-dont-modern-pop-songs-end-by-slowly-reducing-in-volume.html
  64. Holst (2008), pp. 52–53
  65. Greene, pp. 34–35
  66. "Royal Philharmonic Society", The Globe, 1 March 1919, p. 13
  67. Greene, p. 32
  68. "Royal Philharmonic Society", The Times, 28 February 1919, p. 14
  69. "Some eminent pianists compared", The Saturday Review, 8 March 1919, p. 224
  70. "The Prince of Wales at the R.C.M.", The Times, 5 July 1919, p. 15
  71. "Mr Gustav Holst", The Times, 26 May 1934, p. 7
  72. Newman, Ernest. "The Week's Music", The Sunday Times, 21 November 1920, p. 7
  73. "The Planets" Archived 20 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine, WorldCat. Retrieved 19 June 2021
    https://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=worldcat_org_all&q=the+planets#x0%253Amusic-%2C%2528x0%253Amusic%2Bx4%253Acd%2529%2C%2528x0%253Amusic%2Bx4%253Adigital%2529%2C%2528x0%253Amusic%2Bx4%253Alp%2529%2C%2528x0%253Amusic%2Bx4%253Acassette%2529format
  74. Short, pp. 204 and 215
  75. Holst (1986), p. 143
  76. Short, p. 247
  77. Notes to Cala CD CACD0526 OCLC 46880671
    https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46880671
  78. Notes to Avid CD AMSC 582 OCLC 45217594
    https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45217594
  79. Notes to LPO CD LPO-0047 OCLC 871404142
    https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/871404142
  80. "The Planets", Naxos Music Library. Retrieved 18 June 2021 (subscription required) Archived 20 June 2021 at the Wayback
    https://marylebone.naxosmusiclibrary.com/search?keyword=The%20Planets&page=1
  81. Scott Rohan, Michael, Review, Gramophone, August 2001, p. 50
  82. Respectively, OCLC 52986761, OCLC 58975552, OCLC 1022851419 and OCLC 760128838
    https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52986761
  83. WOSU Public Media
    http://radio.wosu.org/post/missing-planet-watch-leonard-bernstein-improvise-pluto-unpredictable#stream/0
  84. "Peter Sykes"
    http://www.petersykes.com/index1.html
  85. Holst (1986), p. 144
  86. Vaughan Williams, p. 200
  87. Short, p. 197; and Holst (1986), p. 137
  88. Paste Magazine
    https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2006/11/king-crimson-mars2.html
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