The Planets Suite

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The Planets Suite

• Gustav Holst
• 1874 - 1934

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Gustav Holst was born in Cheltenham, England on
the 21st September 1874.
Statue of Holst in his home town.
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Gustav Holst was born into a very musical
family. His father was a pianist and his
mother (who died when he was 8) was a singer.
Adolf Holst
Clara Holst
Gustav Holst
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As a child he was taught the piano and violin.
This is Holst playing the violin.
This is Holsts piano. You can see it in the
Holst Birthplace Museum. He composed The Planets
on this piano.
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Gustav was a sickly child. His eyes were weak,
but no one realised that he needed to wear
glasses. His chest was also weak and he suffered
from asthma. When he was young Gustav hated
playing the violin, but enjoyed playing the piano.
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Unfortunately Holst was also had pain in his
hands making practising very difficult and
painful. After leaving school he first got a job
as an organist and choir master.
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He became a student at the Royal College of Music
where he studied composition. Unfortunately the
pain in his right hand became worse. Playing for
a long time was impossible and he was forced to
realise that he would not be able to play the
piano professionally as a concert pianist.
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Holst decided to take up the trombone. It would
allow him to play in orchestras and he could earn
some money. Also, the experience would be useful
to him as a composer. Perhaps, he also thought
that playing the trombone would even help to
strengthen his chest and lungs.
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Holst wrote The Planets Suite between 1914 and
1916. Each of the seven movements is named after
a planet of the Solar System and its
corresponding astrological character 1. Mars -
the Bringer of War 2. Venus - the Bringer of
Peace 3. Mercury - the Winged Messenger 4.
Jupiter - the Bringer of Jollity 5. Saturn - the
Bringer of Old Age 6. Uranus - the Magician 7.
Neptune - the Mystic
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The premiere performance of The Planets Suite was
at the Queen's Hall on 29 September 1918,
conducted by Holst's friend Adrian Boult to an
invited audience of about 250 people.
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Holst wrote inside the music score that Adrian
Boult conducted from at the premier performance.
It reads This copy is the property of Adrian
Boult who first caused the Planets to shine in
public and thereby earned the gratitude of Gustav
Holst.
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(No Transcript)
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Mars the Bringer of War
Mars is the Roman god of war and bloodshed,
whose symbol is a spear and shield.
Watch Mars here
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Did you know?
In music for bowed string instruments, col legno
is an instruction to strike the string with the
stick of the bow, rather than by drawing the hair
of the bow across the strings. This results in a
quiet percussive sound.
See a demonstration of col legno here
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Venus the Bringer of Peace
Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty.
Watch Venus here
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Did you know?
The celesta or celeste looks similar to an
upright piano or a large wooden music box. The
keys are connected to hammers which strike a
graduated set of metal (usually steel) plates
suspended over wooden resonators.
The sound of the celesta is similar to that of
the glockenspiel, but with a much softer and more
subtle timbre. This quality gave the instrument
its name, celeste meaning "heavenly" in French.
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Mercury the Winged Messenger
Mercury was the messenger-god of Jupiter, and was
the god of games, business and story telling.
Watch Mercury here
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Did you know?
The bass oboe or baritone oboe is a double reed
instrument in the woodwind family. It is about
twice the size of a regular oboe and sounds an
octave lower.
The Piccolo is a half-size flute in the woodwind
family of musical instruments. The piccolo mostly
has the same fingerings as the standard flute,
but the sound it produces is an octave higher
than written.
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Jupiter - the Bringer of Jollity
In Roman mythology Jupiter was the king of heaven
and Earth and of all the Olympian gods.
Watch Jupiter here
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Did you know?
In 1921 Gustav Holst adapted the music from a
section of Jupiter to create a setting for this
poem. The music was extended slightly to fit the
final two lines of the first verse.
I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things
above, Entire and whole and perfect, the service
of my love The love that asks no question, the
love that stands the test, That lays upon the
altar the dearest and the best The love that
never falters, the love that pays the price, The
love that makes undaunted the final
sacrifice.   And there's another country, I've
heard of long ago, Most dear to them that love
her, most great to them that know We may not
count her armies, we may not see her King Her
fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is
suffering And soul by soul and silently her
shining bounds increase, And her ways are ways of
gentleness, and all her paths are peace.
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Saturn - the Bringer of Old Age
In Roman mythology Saturn is the god of
agriculture.
Watch Saturn here
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Did you know?
The harp is not like any other member of the
string family. It has about 45 strings stretched
across its tall triangular frame. The strings are
plucked by hand while seven pedals at the bottom
of the harp adjust the length of the strings to
produce additional notes.
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Uranus - the Magician
Uranus was the first ruler of the Universe and
the god of the sky. He was the husband of Gaea,
the goddess of the earth. Their children include
the Cyclopes and the Titans.
Watch Uranus here
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Did you know?
The xylophone is a tuned instrument made of
hardwood bars in graduated lengths set
horizontally on a metal frame. With the larger,
lower-sounding bars on the left, the notes of the
xylophone are laid out much like a piano
keyboard. Striking the bars with hard mallets
produces a bright, sharp sound.
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Neptune - the Mystic
In Roman mythology Neptune was the god of water
and the Sea.
Watch Neptune here
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Did you know?
Neptune was one of the first pieces of orchestral
music to have a fade-out ending. Holst
stipulates that the women's choruses are "to be
placed in an adjoining room, the door of which is
to be left open until the last bar of the piece,
when it is to be slowly and silently closed", and
that the final bar (scored for choruses alone) is
"to be repeated until the sound is lost in the
distance".