|
|
|
|
The Planets
|
| |
|
| |
The Planets Op. 32 is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the British composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Its first complete public performance occurred during World War I on 10 October 1918 in Birmingham, with Appleby Matthews conducting. However, an earlier invitation-only premiere was held on 29 September 1918 in the Queen's Hall in London, conducted by Adrian Boult.
concept of the work is astrological rather than astronomical (which is why Earth is not included).
Discussion
Ask a question about 'The Planets' Start a new discussion about 'The Planets' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
The Planets Op. 32 is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the British composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Its first complete public performance occurred during World War I on 10 October 1918 in Birmingham, with Appleby Matthews conducting. However, an earlier invitation-only premiere was held on 29 September 1918 in the Queen's Hall in London, conducted by Adrian Boult.
Background
The concept of the work is astrological rather than astronomical (which is why Earth is not included). The idea was suggested to Holst by Clifford Bax, who introduced him to astrology when the two were amongst a small group of English artists holidaying in Majorca in the spring of 1913; Holst became quite a devotee of the subject, and liked to cast friends' horoscopes for fun. Each movement is intended to convey ideas and emotions associated with the influence of the planets on the psyche, not the Roman deities. Holst also used Alan Leo's book What is a Horoscope? as a springboard for his own ideas, as well as for the subtitles (i.e., "The Bringer of...") for the movements.
The Planets as a work in progress was originally scored for a piano duet, except for "Neptune", which was scored for a single organ, as Holst believed that the sound of the piano was too harsh for a world as mysterious and distant as Neptune. Holst then scored the suite for a large orchestra, and it was in this incarnation that it became enormously popular. Holst's use of orchestration was very imaginative and colourful, showing the influence of Arnold Schoenberg and other continental composers of the day rather than his English predecessors. The influence of Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring is especially notable. These new (at least for British audiences) sonorities helped make the suite an instant success. Although The Planets remains Holst's most popular work, the composer himself did not count it among his best creations and later in life complained that its popularity had completely surpassed his other works. He did, however, conduct a recorded performance of the suite in the early 1920s, and he was partial to his own favourite movement, "Saturn".
During the last weeks of World War I, the private orchestral premiere of The Planets suite was held at rather short notice on 29 September 1918, in the Queen's Hall. It was hastily rehearsed; the musicians first saw the complicated music only two hours before the performance. Despite this auspicious venue, it was a comparably intimate affair, attended by around 250 invited associates, with a chamber orchestra and choir conducted by Sir Adrian Boult at the request of his friends—Holst, and financial backer and fellow composer Balfour Gardiner. An ecstatically-received public concert was given a few weeks later while Holst was overseas, but out of the seven movements, only five were played. After the war, the first complete public performance occurred on 10 October 1920, in Birmingham. Holst himself conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in a recorded performance of The Planets in 1926. In 2003, this was released on compact disc by IMP and later on Naxos outside the US. Because of time constraints in earlier recordings, the tempo is often much faster than is usually performed today.
Instrumentation
The elaborate orchestration of The Planets produces unusual, complex sounds by using some out-of-the-ordinary instruments in the large orchestra (similar to Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6 of 1906), such as a bass oboe, two timpani players, celesta, xylophone, tubular bells, and organ. Holst had been influenced by Igor Stravinsky, who used four oboes and four bassoons in his The Rite of Spring (1912–13), and by Schoenberg's 1909 composition Five Pieces for Orchestra.
Woodwinds:
- 4 Flutes (3rd doubling 1st Piccolo; 4th doubling 2nd Piccolo and "Bass Flute in G")
- 3 Oboes (3rd doubling Bass oboe)
- English horn
- 3 Clarinets in B-flat, A
- Bass clarinet in B-flat
- 3 Bassoons
- Contrabassoon
Brass:
- 6 Horns in F
- 4 Trumpets in C
- 3 Trombones
- Tenor Tuba in B-flat
- Tuba
Percussion:
- 6 Timpani (2 players, 3 drums each except in "Uranus" with 4 and 2 drums each respectively)
- Bass Drum
- Snare Drum
- Cymbals
- Triangle
- Tam-tam
- Tambourine
- Glockenspiel
- Xylophone
- Chimes
Keyboards:
- Celesta
- Organ
Voices:
- ("Neptune" only)
- 2 Three-part Women's Choruses (SSA) located in an adjoining room which is to be screened from the audience
Strings:
- 2 Harps
- Violins I, II
- Violas
- Violoncellos
- Double Basses
Non-orchestral versions
- One piano, four hands: "... John York found an engraved copy of Holst's own piano duet arrangement."
- Two pianos: Holst also created a version for two pianos. He had two of his friends play the four-hands version to aid in composition. The two-piano arrangement was published in 1949. Holst's manuscripts for it are now in the holdings of the Royal College of Music (Mars, Venus, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune), Royal Academy of Music (Mercury) and British Library (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus).
- Organ: transcription by Peter Sykes.
- Brass ensemble: the Empire Brass has recorded a shortened version of Jupiter.
- Brass band: Stephen Roberts, associate conductor of the English Symphony Orchestra, transcribed the entire suite for brass band. That version has been recorded by the Black Dyke Band.
- Symphonic band transcriptions written by Holst himself of Mars and Jupiter exist and are currently published by Boosey and Hawkes. A transcription for symphonic wind ensemble of the complete seven-movement suite was written by Merlin Patterson in 1998. (see Media below)
- Drum and bugle corps: Since 1959, many drum corps have performed selections from The Planets. The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps won championships twice with programs featuring selections from the work; first in 1985 ("Mars", "Mercury", "Uranus", "Jupiter") and again in 1995 ("Mars", "Venus", "Mercury", "Jupiter").
- Marching band: Mars, Venus and Jupiter, have all been arranged for marching band by Jay Bocook. Paul Murtha has also arranged the chorale portion of Jupiter for marching band.
- Percussion ensemble: James Ancona arranged Mercury for a percussion ensemble consisting of 2 glockenspiels, 2 xylophones, 2 vibraphones, 2 marimbas, 5 timpani, small suspended cymbal, and 2 triangles.
- Synthesizers: Japanese keyboardist and composer Isao Tomita recorded the full score using only synthesizers.
Structure
The suite has seven movements, each of them named after a planet and its corresponding Roman deity (see also Planets in astrology):
- Mars, the Bringer of War
- Venus, the Bringer of Peace
- Mercury, the Winged Messenger
- Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
- Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
- Uranus, the Magician
- Neptune, the Mystic
The order of the movements corresponds to increasing distance of their eponymous planets from the Earth. Some commentators have suggested that this is intentional, with the anomaly of Mars preceding Mercury being a device to make the first four movements match the form of a symphony. One alternative explanation may be the ruling of astrological signs of the zodiac by the planets. If the zodiac signs are listed along with their ruling planets in the traditional order starting with Aries, ignoring duplication, Pluto (then undiscovered and now de-planetised), and the luminaries (the Sun and the Moon), then the order of the movements matches. Another possibility, this time from an astronomical perspective, is that the first three movements, representing the inner terrestrial planets, are ordered according to their decreasing distance from the Sun. The remaining movements, representing the gas giants that lie beyond the asteroid belt, are ordered by increasing distance from the Sun. Critic David Hurwitz offers an alternative explanation for the piece's structure: that "Jupiter" is the centrepoint of the suite and that the movements on either side are in mirror images. Thus "Mars" involves motion and "Neptune" is static; "Venus" is sublime while "Uranus" is vulgar, and "Mercury" is light and scherzando while "Saturn" is heavy and plodding. This hypothesis is lent credence by the fact that the two outer movements, "Mars" and "Neptune", are both written in rather unusual quintuple meter.
"Neptune" was the first piece of music to have a fade-out ending. Holst stipulates that the women's choruses are "to be placed in an adjoining room, the door of which is to be left open until the last bar of the piece, when it is to be slowly and silently closed", and that the final bar (scored for choruses alone) is "to be repeated until the sound is lost in the distance". Although commonplace today, the effect bewitched audiences in the era before widespread recorded sound—after the initial 1918 run-through, Holst's daughter Imogen (in addition to watching the charwomen dancing in the aisles during "Jupiter") remarked that the ending was "unforgettable, with its hidden chorus of women's voices growing fainter and fainter... until the imagination knew no difference between sound and silence". A typical performance of all seven movements lasts around 50 minutes.
Pluto
Pluto was discovered in 1930, four years before Holst's death, and was hailed by astronomers as a new planet. Holst expressed no interest in writing a movement for it—he had become disillusioned by the popularity of the suite, believing that it took too much attention away from his other works.
Several other composers have written their own Pluto movements, the first apparently being Clive Strutt, who produced his for the Holst centenary in 1974. In 2000, the Hallé Orchestra commissioned the composer Colin Matthews, an authority on Holst, to write a new eighth movement, which Matthews entitled Pluto, the Renewer. Dedicated to the late Imogen Holst, Gustav Holst's daughter, it was first performed in Manchester on 11 May 2000, with Kent Nagano conducting the Hallé Orchestra. Matthews changed the ending of Neptune slightly so that the movement would lead directly into Pluto.
In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union for the first time defined the term "planet", which resulted in a change in Pluto's status, from a planet to a dwarf planet. Thus, Holst's original work is once again a complete representation of all the extraterrestrial planets in the Solar System.
Adaptations of The Planets
Hymns
Holst himself adapted the melody of the central section of "Jupiter" in 1921 to fit the metre of a poem beginning "I vow to thee, my country". As a hymn tune it has the title Thaxted, after the town in Essex where Holst lived for many years, and it has also been used for other hymns, such as "O God beyond all praising".
I Vow to Thee, My Country was written between 1908 and 1918 by Sir Cecil Spring-Rice and became known as a response to the human cost of World War I. The hymn was first performed in 1925 and quickly became a patriotic anthem. Although Holst had no such patriotic intentions when he originally composed the music, these adaptations have encouraged others to draw upon the score in similar ways throughout the 20th Century.
Rugby Union
Part of "Jupiter" was selected in 1991 as the theme of the Rugby Union World Cup under the title "World in Union".
In modern media
Films
Bill Conti's score for the 1983 motion picture The Right Stuff quotes "Mars", "Jupiter" and "Neptune" in Track 4, "Glenn's Flight".
Cliff Eidelman's 1991 score to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was inspired by the sound of The Planets, a copy of which was given to him by director Nicholas Meyer. In the CD booklet, however, Meyer mentions that a direct adaptation of The Planets, as he had intended, had proven to be economically unfeasible, only after which Eidelman was hired to compose an original soundtrack, however inspired by Stravinsky's The Firebird.
"Saturn" was featured toward the end of the Mark Wahlberg movie The Yards as Wahlberg's character was riding on a subway train.
Part of "Venus" is used in the film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
Parts of "Venus" & "Jupiter" were used in the Japanese film Rainbow Song.
Elements of "Mars" were incorporated by Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page into the middle of his composition "Dazed and Confused", as can be heard in Led Zeppelin's 1976 film, The Song Remains the Same.
Parts of "Jupiter" were used in the 2006 Japanese live action drama Nodame Cantabile.
Part of "Jupiter" was used in the 2006 festival film Cashback.
Almost half of "Mars" was used in the brickfilm "Triumph of the Empire"
The opening measures of "Uranus" were quoted in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, at the beginning of the scene when Luke Skywalker is trying to get Darth Vader into a shuttle craft and off the Death Star, which is on the verge of destruction.
Multimedia
A Multimedia was created in 2000 and premièred in the Ratanga Junction Theme Park, South Africa with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro . This production explores the astrological rather than astronomical aspect of the music interpreting this in a synchronized light show comprising animation, specifically filmed sequences, stock footage, live camera feeds and a laser show. The concerts received critical acclaim and toured to Canada in 2004. This production was created by Rene Hermans, and .
Television/Videos
Actual full recordings of the music:
- A version mixes video of the orchestra with related visual themes.
- Charles Dutoit conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in 1986 by Decca and reissued in 1998 by Penguin Classics. Later used for a multi-disciplinary (Skating, Ballet/Dance, music) vision. .
- Isao Tomita's version of The Planets was featured in a laserdisc educational film, also called "The Planets", narrated by Patrick Stewart.
- During the second season of The Venture Bros., during the episode "Hate Floats", Monarch Henchmen 21 and 24 sing a passage from "Mars" to celebrate their being called back to duty. In the first episode of the third season a portion of "Jupiter" is used to end the episode.
- "Mars" was used as the title theme to the first two of Nigel Kneale's iconic Quatermass television series of the 1950s.
- "Jupiter" was remixed by Pleiades Production for use in Dance Dance Revolution SuperNova 2. *"Jupiter" was also used as the theme for "Starstuff", a 1980 children's television program.
- "Saturn" is playing in The Simpsons episode "'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky" when Lisa is in the museum and first develops her inspiration for astronomy. "Jupiter" was also played in the same episode shortly after "Saturn" was played.
- Parts of "Jupiter" were used in the interval performance during the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 in Birmingham, UK. Among the performers was violinist Vanessa-Mae.
- "Mars" is used in the Space: 1999 episode "Space Brain".
- Part of "Jupiter" is played upon presentation of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.
- Is used in different episodes of the 1999 BBC TV miniseries The Planets.
- Masamichi Amano's Kunren composition, which is the orchestral piece played during the takeoff scenes in the anime Stratos 4, was inspired by "Jupiter".
Video games
During the 1980s, material from The Planets made its way into several video games for the Commodore 64. G-Force (1984) and The First Starfighter (1986) featured sections of Holst's Jupiter. The Caverns of Eriban (1985) used part of Holst's Mercury. Similarly, Plasmatron (1987) and Wicked (1989) borrowed sections of Holst's Mars. The games didn't use a recorded symphony version of Holst's music, as home computers weren't developed in that way yet. Rather, the game designers of the 1980s played the part of musicians and adapted the music to their instrument, the home computer.
Mars was featured in later video games, including Commander Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine (1991), Epic (1992), Outpost (1994), Diablo II: Lord of Destruction (2001) (in which the song "Siege" contains numerous allusions and rhythmic resemblances to Mars), Escape Velocity Nova (2002), and Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII (2001–07) for Playstation 2. Super Mario Galaxy also used the rhythm of Mars in conjunction with a melody from a previous game in the series.
"Pharaohs Escape' Mars was also used in the 2006 sequel Destroy All Humans 2 - Menu screen, plays 'Mars'
Also, Mars is played while the user is in control of a tank in the multi-platform game "Return Fire"
Advertising
The theme from "Jupiter" was used in an Australian advertisement in early 2008 for Bundaberg Rum, as well as an American TV advertisement for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in 2007.
Popular music
Portions of The Planets, particularly "Mars" (with its pounding 5/4 ostinato), have been covered and quoted extensively in heavy metal music, progressive rock, and electronica.
- Heavy metal band Triumph used a portion of the sequence for the opening section, titled War March, and the ending sequence can be heard during the third part, titled Minstrels Lament of their three-part epic, The City from the original Rock and Roll Machine album.
- Frank Zappa playing with The Mothers of Invention plays the refrain of Jupiter in "The Invocation and Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin" on Absolutely Free. This segment is excluded from the live version continued within "Call Any Vegetable" on Just Another Band From LA [1972].
- King Crimson's 1969 incarnation would play an improvised interpretation of "Mars, the Bringer of War" as the encore of their live set, with guitar, bass, and drums playing the 5/4 time ostinato, while Ian McDonald would improvise over the rhythmic pulse on the mellotron. The same piece appears on their 1970 album In the Wake of Poseidon as "The Devil's Triangle", so named for the three sections of the song, gradually becoming more and more improvised and avant-garde.
- Emerson, Lake and Powell recorded a faithful cover of "Mars, Bringer of War" on their eponymous LP in 1985.
- The intro to the song "Eyes of the World" by British hard rock band Rainbow is based on "Mars, the Bringer of War." Band's drummer, Cozy Powell, subsequently based his solo, while touring with Emerson, Lake & Powell and Black Sabbath, on the same piece.
- The intro to the song "Am I Evil" by British heavy metal band Diamond Head is also based on "Mars, the Bringer of War."
- The chorus of the east coast thrash band Overkill's "Who Tends the Fire" (Megaforce 82045-2, 1989) is based on the Mars theme.
- The intro and some interior sections of American death metal band Nile's "Ramses Bringer of War" (Relapse 6983, 1998) are based on Holst's Mars.
- "The Divine Wings of Tragedy" by progressive metal band Symphony X (SPV 72833, 1999) includes a refrain of Mars material that holds the extended composition together.
- "War (Mars, The Bringer of War)" by Van Helsing's Curse (Koch 9524, 2003) is simply a reproduction of Mars with a voice-over.
- Italian power metal band Domine does a song called "Mars, The Bringer of War" (Dragonheart, 1999) which uses significant Mars material.
- The bridge of "Boom!" by hard rock band System of a Down (Sony 87062, 2002) is based on Mars.
- The intro to "White Room" by Cream (Polydor 827578, 1968) is essentially a reworking of Mars theme material.
- British pop artist Sands included some Mars material in the outro to "Listen to the Sky" (Rev-Ola 176, 2007) on a compilation of the same name.
- Rick Wakeman recorded an abridged version of the entire suite called Beyond The Planets (telstar uk, 1985) with a four-piece rock band.
- Mars was rendered in techno stylings on the album TechnoClassix: Never Mind Beethoven (Berwick Street 1, 1993); the track is called "Mars (the bringer of techno)".
- Masque features parts of the Suite—of particular note is the first track "Joybringer (From Jupiter)", which is "Jupiter" with lyrics.
- Part of "Jupiter" is used by Swedish black metal artist Bathory in the song "Hammerheart" of the Twilight of the Gods album.
- Simon Wright uses parts of Jupiter when playing his drum solo on the Holy Diver DVD.
- British heavy metal band Iron Maiden used excerpts from "Mars" as the intro music on their 2006 A Matter Of Life And Death World Tour.
- Isao Tomita recorded a synthesizer version of the "Planets Suite" released in 1976 (RCA RVC-2111). "The Planets" was taken off of the market for a few years by court order from Gustav Holst's relatives. They claimed that Tomita had manhandled their father's compositions. The record company withdrew some 30,000 records from the stores.
- Electronic artist Rob Astor recorded the full "Planets Suite" for his 2008 Ad Astra album (Rob Astor 6 34479 89609 5). He kept every musical element while transforming the suite into a hybrid of orchestral movements, new age layers, and rock and roll instruments
- Sarah Brightman uses the opening and sections of "Jupiter" for "Running" from her 2008 album Symphony.
- Slovenian avant-garde musicians Laibach covered "Mars, the Bringer of War" on their album NATO , released in 1994. The cover version is called "Nato," not to be confused with another song on the album named "Mars on River Drina".
- Japanese singer Ayaka Hirahara released a pop version of "Jupiter" in December 2003. It went to #2 on the Oricon charts and sold nearly a million copies, making it the third-best selling single in the Japanese popular music market for 2004. It remained on the charts for over three years.
Media
External links
- Links to public domain scores of the Planets:
- (Score in the Public Domain)** (PDF)
- Online Recordings:
- Live recording by Peabody Concert Orchestra (2002)
- of "The Planets" (containing some errors, however)
-
Audio clips
|
| |
|
|
