Gustav Holst (1874 -1934)

Gustav Holst was an English composer with Swedish and Russian ancestry. His father was a pianist and wished Gustav to also follow as a pianist, but Gustav suffered great pain in his hands through neuritis and instead, became more interested in composition. He studied piano and organ at the Royal College of Music, though trombone provided a less painful instrument for him to play and also provided the intimate opportunity of experiences playing in an orchestra. His first appointment was as organist and choirmaster of the choral society at Bourbon on the Water. He continued in many performing roles until 1903, which marked the beginning of his teaching career. He was a prolific composer and covered many different types of music, from Orchestral music to Operas, Ballets, Choral works, Military and Brass band, Chamber music, Solo instrumental music and songs. His interest in Astrology inspired one of his most renowned works, The Planets. The Planets (1916-1918) The Planets was completed in 1916 but with war raging, was not performed until September 1918. Nowadays it seems incredible that, for many years, The Planets was considered "difficult" music. Conductor Adrian Boult recalled that, on the night before that first performance, a player pointed to the combination in Neptune of the E minor chord with G# and D# in the bass and said to Holst, 'I'm sorry, I think that is going to sound frightful.' Holst agreed, but felt it unavoidable. Subsequently, orchestras often performed extracts, convinced that a public being fed "a totally new language" could reasonably swallow only 30 minutes. Even in 1950, a BBC Director said of a complete performance "... it was not particularly attractive to the public, played in its entirety." Holst determined the order of the movements according to their mean distance from the Earth, beginning with Mars. As the piece was composed during the First World War, many of the movements depict images of war and have military themes, March like ostinatos and bold fanfares which feature the brass instruments.

The Planets (1916-1918) 

The Planets was completed in 1916 but with war raging, was not performed until September 1918. Nowadays it seems incredible that, for many years, The Planets was considered "difficult" music. Conductor Adrian Boult recalled that, on the night before that first performance, a player pointed to the combination in Neptune of the E minor chord with G# and D# in the bass and said to Holst, 'I'm sorry, I think that is going to sound frightful.' Holst agreed, but felt it unavoidable. Subsequently, orchestras often performed extracts, convinced that a public being fed "a totally new language" could reasonably swallow only 30 minutes. Even in 1950, a BBC Director said of a complete performance "... it was not particularly attractive to the public, played in its entirety." 

Holst determined the order of the movements according to their mean distance from the Earth, beginning with Mars. As the piece was composed during the First World War, many of the movements depict images of war and have military themes, March like ostinatos and bold fanfares which feature the brass instruments. 

Holst maximises the contrast between successive movements: violent (Mars) to serene (Venus), static (Venus) to swift (Mercury), and similarly ethereal to opulent, vibrant to bleak, pallid to exhilarating, and tuneful to tuneless. Moreover, movements can be paired by opposing characteristics: Mars with Venus (obviously), Mercury with Jupiter (athlete/couch potato), Uranus with Neptune (extrovert/introvert). Saturn, poor old soul, stands alone. We could equally associate Mars with Venus and Jupiter with Saturn as pairs of contrasted "Bringers", separated by Mercury as a scherzando interlude, leaving an apposite "Magician"/"Mystic" coupling as finale. 

The Planets, is a suite of seven movements. Holst's starting point for the music was the astrological character of each planet, though his interest in astrology went no deeper than its musical suggestiveness. The movements are examples of Program music — music which describes a person, mood, place or character. In each one the elements of music are used to create the personality of each of the planets.