What Is Specifically Holstian About 'The Planets'?
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
What Is Specifically Holstian About ‘The Planets’? ‘The Planets’ (Holst, 1918) is Holst’s most recognisable work, but whether it represents his style is often questioned. In 2002, Colin Matthews (composer of the additional ‘Pluto’ movement) said that ‘The Planets’ is ‘often regarded as if it came from nowhere, yet the music fits naturally into Holst’s output, a logical development from his earlier work, and a pointer to much that he was to achieve subsequently’ (Matthews, 2002). However, two years later, he contradicted himself, stating that ‘even to those with more than a passing acquaintance with his music, The Planets does give something of an impression of a work that emerged from nowhere, since it has few antecedents either in Holst's own output or in orchestral music generally’ (Matthews, 2004). This essay aims to investigate which elements of ‘The Planets’ are specifically Holstian by comparing its composition to (non-exhaustive) parts of other Holst compositions, therefore determining if either of Matthews’ statements truly reflect the work. Aside from the Wagner-esque chromaticism of his early work (and, to a lesser extent, his career), Holst’s unique approaches to tonality are one of many distinct Holstian features- bitonality, for example. One of the more famous examples of this can be found in Holst’s ‘Hammersmith’ (Holst, [Figure 1] Basses in F 1930) prelude which puts F minor basses against a rigid E major minor melody line [figure 1]. Despite the Ab/G# and Db/C# connections, contrasting horns in E no attempt at harmony is made and the two keys are left to clash major in and intertwine. Similarly, ‘The Mystic Trumpeter’ (Holst, 1904) Hammersmith also employs bitonality in its opening section, with the strings and Prelude. winds changing through clashing keys in order to create tension. This feeling is replicated in ‘Mars’ which explores bitonality during its A section. Though the ostinato retains its G tonal centre, there is a distinct, jarring focus on Db throughout many of the melody lines. ‘Neptune’ takes a similar approach, with ‘bitonality centred on oscillating chords of E minor and G# minor sometimes played together’ (Head, 1993). Here, the technique (found in the first 2 beats of bar 16 for example) is used to add to the mystic quality of the movement. One of his more extreme, unique explorations of tonality can be found in ‘Terzetto For Flute, Oboe and Viola’ (Holst, 1925). It opens with an oboe melody diatonic to its A major key signature before the flute joins in and does the same with its A flat key signature. The dissonance is then taken further as the viola enters with no flats/sharps, therefore adding a third unrelated key and creating polytonality. Another movement that approaches bitonality in a unique way is ‘Mercury’. It rapidly alternates between the keys of E and Bb (separated by a tritone) creating a [Figure 2] surprisingly light-hearted clash, very different in tone to the Harp 1 dramatic dissonance of that in ‘Mars’ and ‘Neptune’. The shown to be in Bb major, technique is most obvious in the two harp parts, with harp 1 harp 2 using a 2-flat key signature and harp 2 using 3-sharps, shown to be in E major. alternating between Bb and E major chords [figure 2]. The other instruments use accidentals to change between the tonal centres, with examples found in the bar 1 bassoon which ascends using a Bb major chord and descends using E major, or the piccolo part in bars 16-17, which are very clearly in Bb major, but surrounded by the E major of bars 15/18. When two different chords occasionally meet (bars 227-234, for example, include multiple Cm/Db clashes), its traditional use can be felt much like it is in pieces such as the ‘Hammersmith’ prelude, but the fact that the keys are almost exclusively alternating creates a very different sound through what is, on the surface, a very Holstian technique. While this suggests a level of support for Matthews’ 2004 statement (as the subtle, unique uses could be hard to link to clear uses of bitonality ‘even to those with more than a passing acquaintance with his music’), it is still representative of his Holstian style (and Matthews’ 2002 statement), because this movement, ‘Neptune’ and ‘Mars’ all still use the technique. Modality is another distinctively Holstian approach to tonality. Both ‘A Choral Phantasia’ (Holst, 1930) and ‘Matthew, Mark, Luke and John’ (Holst, 1916) use the Phrygian mode in their opening, while the ‘First Suite For Military Band In Eb’ uses a ‘self-contained Dorian mode melody on F’ (Stith, 1970) in the second section of the intermezzo, and ‘phrase M [of ‘Savitri’, bars 72-74] is plainly set in A Dorian’ (Landvatter, 1984). ‘Jupiter’ is the clearest representation of modality in ‘The Planets’. This can be seen in both simple forms, such as the opening pentatonic ostinati, but also in subtler ways. These include the scalic runs exploring the Mixolydian scale in bar 75, due to the lack of C#’s in the seemingly D major ascent, and the Dorian scale in bar 315, where the same pattern is now a straight ‘white note’ run from D-D. On top of this, less scale-based modal features emerge, such as a lack of traditional dominant-tonic relationship, as ‘the progression from V to I6 appears a few times throughout this portion [the main ‘Thaxted’ hymn] of the music, but there is no traditional movement from V7 to I’ (Ovsey, 2008). These common appearances of modality suggest a very Holstian aspect to ‘Jupiter’, suggesting that it is very Holstian in its modal [Figure 3] B approach. There are a few other examples of modality throughout ‘The Planets’, Dorian ♮ descending such as the B Dorian mode ‘Saturn’ theme which uses the b7th and 6ths of the bassline in scale as well as the descent in [figure 3] which uses the same mode, and bar 58 ‘Saturn’. of ‘Neptune’, which also ‘has a touch of the Dorian mode in the clarinet theme’ (Greene, 1995). These can be compared to ‘Christmas Song’ (Holst, 1924), which is completely scored in F Dorian (using a 3-flat, Bb/Eb/Ab key signature). These frequent examples could imply that it isn’t just modality, but the use of the Dorian mode specifically, that is a Holstian feature. The use of modality goes hand in hand with folksong, with Holst’s friend Ralph Vaughn Williams employing modal writing in, for example, the Dorian opening of ‘My Bonny Boy’ (Vaughn Williams, 1923). With him, Holst ‘developed an interest in English folk music, [which] became a turning point in style as he left behind the heaviness of the Wagnerian style for the simplicity of folk melodies’ (McLaren, 2015). After using existing folk melodies in, for example, ‘A Somerset Rhapsody’ (1906) and ‘6 Choral Folksongs’ (Holst, 1917), he began to create his own, folk inspired melodies, stating that ‘lots of my things are folksong [Figure 4] in character but as far as I know the First phrase melodies are mine’ (Graebe, 2011). of ‘Matthew, Mark, Luke This can be seen in the opening and John. melody [figure 4] of ‘Matthew, Mark, Luke and John’ (Holst, 1916), which shows the aforementioned (Mixolydian) modality alongside a binary (two 4-bar phrases being followed by two 2-bar phrases) form. Rather than focusing on the creation of clear folk melodies (or the use of pre-existing ones) ‘the lesson [Holst] took from folk music was one of simplicity and economy’ (Graebe, 2011). This statement continues to prove itself in ‘The Planets’, with [Figure 5] The well- melodies of this nature appearing throughout. ‘Jupiter’ is a known particularly strong example. The famous ‘Thaxted’ theme ‘Thaxted’ theme. [figure 5] employs this approach, as while technically a hymn in style, its simple melodic and rhythmic content in an adapted binary form (made up of a 4-bar A section which is rhythmically repeated with melodic developments afterwards, and followed by a B section which uses two different 4-bar phrases), has been called ‘a kind of exalted folksong’ (Greene, 1995). This suggests that folksong was an influence on Holst when writing this melody. Similarly, ‘the pesante theme is a dance of the music-hall variety, though it has a certain popular-folk quality, as does the Mixolydian tune in 3/4 that follows it’ (Greene, 1995) suggesting that, in line with Matthews’ 2004 statement, the use of Holstian ideas is present, but perhaps buried under adaptations and may have been taken too far to be clearly recognisable. While folk-like melodies appear in a multitude of pieces such as the ‘First Suite For Military Band In Eb’ (Holst, 1909) (which opens with a short, simple folk-like melody, split into an small scale binary form) and the Jig of ‘St Pauls Suite’ (Holst, 1912), there are plenty of other uses in ‘The Planets’. The solo violin melody that begins the andante section of ‘Venus’ and the 6-bar melodic ostinato that first appears in bar 83 of ‘Mercury’ both show off the ideas of economy and simplicity that Holst took from folksong; even ‘Saturn’ uses a ‘B minor processional theme [which] moves folklike around the Dorian mode’ (Greene, 1995). The [figure 6] melody employs a typical, small-scale binary form melody split into A (2, 2 bar phrases) and B (a 2 bar phrase, followed by a phrase that is cut [Figure 6] short halfway Folk inspired melody through). From these heard in examples we can conclude that the use of folksong itself isn’t the Holstian feature, but the ‘Saturn’.