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The planets composer5/6/2023 But what are those rings made of? "Sometimes people say they're the lost airline luggage," Hammel says with a chuckle. "Saturn's main claim of course is its fantastic ring system," Hammel says. Flutes rock back and forth while Holst gives a glacially paced theme to the double basses. "It's like an elephant in a porcelain shop," he says, "very happily destroying everything and being very glad about it." The tune was so catchy it was hijacked by the British rock group Manfred Mann's Earth Band, in 1987.Īnd now we approach the outer planets, with "Saturn: The Bringer of Old Age," where time ticks away like an old clock. One of them, a jaunty melody fueled by strings and brass, Oramo calls "rumbustious." One expansive thing about Holst's "Jupiter," Oramo says, is the sheer number of great tunes orbiting within the movement. "When I listen to these themes, it doesn't make me think of happy things. "I don't think of Jupiter as a jolly old soul," she says. That's a lot of moons." Also, she doesn't get the whole "jolly" thing. "It's got a whole retinue of moons," she says. Jupiter is the giant among our planets - so big says Hammel, it's like a small solar system unto itself. So after "Mercury" we skip on to "Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity." Gustav Holst's Planets don't exactly line up like the real ones - he skips Earth and Pluto, which wouldn't be discovered until a dozen years after The Planets premiered. And some of those craters are deep enough that they have shadows that are cold and have ice in them." "Something crazy about 'Mercury,'" Hammel adds, "is that even though it's so close to the sun, and it's just being baked in the sun's heat, it does have craters. "Mercury is a very active, bouncy figure," Oramo notes. Heading closer to the sun, we arrive at Mercury, which Holst subtitled "The Winged Messenger." I find 'Venus' one of the most rewarding movements to conduct because it has this kind of fragility and sensitivity about it." "It has achingly beautiful music for the winds and horn. "Venus is beautiful but enigmatic," Oramo says. Hellish maybe, but Oramo says its music couldn't be more opposite from "Mars." "It's a hellish landscape which is so hot lead would melt on its surface." "Venus is not a loving place at all," our astronomer Hammel notes. Holst's second movement brings us to "Venus: The Bringer of Peace." The planet is named after the goddess of love. Oscar-winner Hans Zimmer was sued by the Holst Foundation for writing music an awful lot like "Mars" in his score for Gladiator.) "It's based on the principals Holst created for 'Mars.' And all composers steal from each other." "I wouldn't call it a rip-off," Oramo answers. Since we're talking movies, what about the " Imperial March," perhaps the most recognizable music John Williams wrote for Star Wars? I played a clip of it for Oramo as we discussed Holst's music. "You could refer to Mars as the forefather of music for films describing interstellar warfare." Oramo says Holst un-holsters the big guns in his explosive first movement. He gave each of them nicknames (not related to their Roman counterparts) like "Mars: The Bringer of War" where we begin our planetary trek. He was more of an astrologer his inspiration came from the personalities of the planets. Heidi Hammel is a planetary astronomer who specializes in the outer planets, and the executive vice president of AURA, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. Next, someone who knows the real planets. "Each of the planets has a different style of orchestration and that's why it stays interesting all the time for the ear." "The work has always exhilarated me," Oramo says. To mark the anniversary, we've enlisted two experts to guide us on an interplanetary trek through Holst's enduring classic.įirst, someone who knows the music: Sakari Oramo, chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, opened this summer's Proms Festival, London's biggest classical music event, with The Planets. The seven-movement suite, depicting planets from our solar system, has been sampled, stolen and cherished by the likes of Frank Zappa, John Williams, Hans Zimmer and any number of prog-rock and metal bands. The Planets, by Gustav Holst, premiered on this date in 1918. One hundred years ago, a symphonic blockbuster was born in London.
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