Gustav Holst, born in Cheltenham, England, was both a composer and a teacher. He was affectionately referred to as “Gussy” during his days as music master at St Paul’s Girl’s School. He would often walk with a trombone hanging from his shoulder and would practice playing it for hours as he roamed the countryside. A friend and fellow composer of his said that one time a farmer became upset with Gustav because when he played his trombone it disturbed the farmer’s sheep.
His fascination with both astrology and astronomy led Holst to compose his most celebrated work, The Planets. Originally The Planets written between 1914 and 1916 was titled Seven Pieces for Large Orchestra. Each of the seven movements in Holst’s orchestral suite (A suite is a musical composition that has several short pieces.) is named after a planet in the solar system: Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Each movement of the suite is supposed to represent a characteristic of the planet.
Since Jupiter is the fastest revolving planet, the composer uses a 3-note melody played by the violins in the piece, Jupiter, to represent this characteristic. The beginning and ending sections of Jupiter are driven by Holst’s study of English folk dances. As the piece progresses and the violins play, it is almost as if there is a spirit of celebration. Hence, the full title of the movement Jupiter, is Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity.
Holst used his imagination to create some very colorful pieces. A performance of all seven movements is about fifty minutes long. If you are interested in hearing some of the other selections from The Planets you can find several different performances on the internet.
The following link will take you to a performance of The Planets by the Boston Pops directed by John Williams. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=holst+the+planets&view=detail&mid=74D400888CAF AF83DAB074D400888CAFAF83DAB0&FORM=VIRE
Out of This World
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