The Planets, Op. 32 (1914–16)
Seven-movement suite, from Mars to Neptune; first performed privately under Adrian Boult in 1918
Recording: (See Musopen for author information) Performed by Skidmore College Orchestra · Attribution, Wikimedia Commons
Music
Gustav Holst
1874–1934 · English
English musical renaissance / early Modernism
Gustav Holst was an English composer, teacher and trombonist, best known for the orchestral suite The Planets. A close friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams, he combined English folk song with interests in Hindu literature and bold modern rhythms and harmonies. He taught for decades at St Paul's Girls' School and Morley College.
How to spot them
- ▸"Mars, the Bringer of War": relentless col legno strings hammering a rhythm in 5/4 time, building to brutal brass climaxes
- ▸"Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity": bustling horns and strings, then a broad, noble central hymn tune later sung as "I Vow to Thee, My Country"
- ▸"Neptune, the Mystic" ends with an offstage wordless female choir fading into silence
- ▸Brisk, folk-flavoured string or military-band writing, as in the St Paul's Suite and the two Suites for Military Band
Key works — listen
St Paul's Suite, Op. 29 No. 2 (1912–13)
String suite for St Paul's Girls' School; its finale combines "The Dargason" with "Greensleeves"
First Suite in E-flat for Military Band, Op. 28 No. 1 (1909)
A cornerstone of the wind-band repertoire, opening with a Chaconne
Recording: w: Gustav Holst The President's Own Marine Band · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
In the Bleak Midwinter (tune "Cranham") (1906)
His setting of Christina Rossetti's poem, a staple of carol services
Egdon Heath, Op. 47 (1927)
Bleak tone poem inspired by Thomas Hardy's Wessex; Holst considered it his finest work
Quick-fire facts
- •He was born in Cheltenham as Gustavus Theodore von Holst and dropped the "von" in 1918
- •The Planets has no movement for Earth, and Pluto was not discovered until 1930; Colin Matthews added "Pluto, the Renewer" in 2000
- •The movements of The Planets are based on the astrological, not mythological, characters of the planets
- •The patriotic hymn "I Vow to Thee, My Country" sets words by Cecil Spring Rice to the central tune of "Jupiter", arranged by Holst as the tune "Thaxted"
- •He was music master at St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith from 1905 until his death
- •He learned Sanskrit to make his own translations for works such as the Hymns from the Rig Veda and the chamber opera Savitri
- •His daughter Imogen Holst was a composer and conductor who worked closely with Benjamin Britten
Drill it — 9 cards
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Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Gustav Holst
- Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press) — Holst, Gustav