Gustav Holst: The Planets Suite

[fergus]

I love all of the several Adrian Boult´s recordings (he conducted the premier), but his 70´s LPO EMI recording has the better sound of course. I especially love the 1972 Bernard Haitink/LPO on PHILIPS. The LPO was in it´s finest form ever, and the PHILIPS sound was spectacular at the time (the cd transfer lost some of original sheen and polish). For a digital recording the Andrew Davis/BBC Symphony in TELDEC has gorgeous sonics and a warm, positive performance. The Gardiner with the Philharmonia is also very good and it has Percy Grainger´s The Warriors as a fill up. I just recently heard that live for the first time in my life in Boston. I have many other recordings: Dutoit, Solti, etc., but I´m always happy to return to the Boult and the Haitink.

I am interested in Pepe’s recommendation of the Haitink. Boult premièred the work and apparently recorded it many times. Apparently Boult's recordings show that he didn't greatly alter his tempi or his approach to the work over the years. As I also do not own a Boult version I must also rectify that omission and I have read that his final recording is the better one. Do you know which one that was Pepe?

[fergus]

I was able to listen to the Karajan 1961 recording on Decca along with a borrowed Previn with the Royal Philharmonics on Telarc. I really enjoyed both versions and have to admit the amazing definition on the Previn leaves me speechless: This has to be one of the best classical recordings I have ever heard! I would not pretend to know much about the interpretation or performance attributes of each version but for shear scale and depth in soundstage the Previn is a joy of a disc.

I was very interested to read that post Claus. As you can see from the above list I also have a Previn version in my collection albeit with a different orchestra and on a different label. I found my version to be good, but no more. It would be interesting to hear both of these versions in a direct comparison.

[Diapason]

Fergus, I'm enjoying this thread and learning a lot. I never really understood the titles of each of the movements, and I never twigged the astrological aspect. Most interesting.

I have only the one recording -- Dutoit with Montreal -- but I've never felt the need to add another.

[fergus]

I am delighted that you are getting something from it Simon.

I have not heard the Dutoit version Simon but during my research for this thread I came across the following comment regarding that conductor’s offering....

Dutoit is simply too light (fine for "Mercury") and doesn't really understand the "Englishness" in Holst.

As this work is undoubtedly about sonics and if the above is true then may I respectfully suggest that you acquire or get a listen to another version, say the Steinberg, which may enhance your listening experience, as they say.

[fergus]

Mars, The Bringer of War:

Movement highlights:

• The unmistakable 5/4 pounding rhythm
• Brass fanfare throughout
• Euphonium's melodic solo
• Grinding minor chords

Three musical ideas are used to create this martial piece:

(1) a brutally rhythmic figure of five beats relentlessly hammered out,
(2) a principal theme in triads moving by chromatic steps with no true harmonic purpose;
(3) a second theme consisting of a tattoo in the tenor tuba answered by a flourish of trumpets.

“Unpleasant and terrifying” was Holst’s own description of how the music should sound.

The “Bringer of War” is introduced by strings which momentarily act as percussion, hammering out a rhythm col legno (literally “with the wood” of the bow) that hints of a military march, but is organized in odd patterns of five. This rhythm, along with so many of the work’s melodic and harmonic devices, represents one of the profound strengths of The Planets: its ability to mix, on a very simple musical level, the familiar and the other-worldly, the down-to earth and the extra-terrestrial.

This quiet but menacing 5/4 in the beginning symbolizes gathering troops and mounting tension. When the full force of the fanfare is released, it is obviously symbolic of the brutal and merciless horrors of war. The euphonium solo about a third of the way through tells the tale of a carefully planned attack from one side, which, for all its military excellence, is crushed. It comes as a surprise to realise that this piece was written before WWI. There is no glory, no heroism nor tragedy in this music. It is entirely inhuman. Not even death is in it, for Mars is as insensitive to death as to life. War as a senseless, mechanised horror is Holst's real subject here.

Coupled with the domination of the inexorable tread of the 5/4 meter is the is the interval of the tritone (the tritone is a harmonic and melodic dissonance) which was apparently shunned and feared by medieval musicians but used to great effect in such pieces as the demons’ scene in Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius and the Infernal Dance in Stravinsky’s Firebird. In Le Sacre du Printemps ostinati (continually repeated musical phrases or rhythms) are symbols of primitivism whereas in Mars they represent the inflexibility and unfeeling obedience of mechanised warfare.

"Mars" begins with a snarl and a roar, and, if we consider Holst's output up to this point, is wholly of the 20th century. It prophesises such later works as Hammersmith and Egdon Heath with its heavy ostinati and strong insistence on an odd time signature (in this case, 5/4).


Mars is cruel, has blood-red eyes, and is prone to anger.

[Diapason]

That's interesting about the Dutoit recording, Fergus. It won a Gramophone award for engineering and I certainly have no problem with the sonics, but I can imagine the lack of Englishness. Might have to listen to an alternative so.

Regarding Mars, I think it's had a huge influence on film composers, and there are moments that really put me in mind of Star Wars. I love the 5/4 signature, and I think it's incredible that Holst managed to make 5 beats in a bar sound like a military march.

[cybot]

What recordings can you recommend Fergus?

I would be happy to recommend any of the above recordings (either CD or LP version) with the possible exception of the Solti but even that has something worthwhile to offer and I suspect that the Holst recording would not be acceptable to many modern listeners. The von Karajan would be a very strong recommendation and the Gardiner and Stokowski are both very good as well but my favourite is the Steinberg version. I am not sure about the availability of the vinyl versions on CD but I am sure that they should be no problem.

Fantastic work Fergus! I own six versions on vinyl including two electronic versions and, would you believe, I still prefer the very first version I bought, namely, the Steinberg!!

[fergus]

I own six versions on vinyl including two electronic versions and, would you believe, I still prefer the very first version I bought, namely, the Steinberg!!

Nice of you to wander over Dermot. That is interesting that you have six versions and I presume one of those would be Tomita. What other versions do you own?

[fergus]

Venus, The Bringer of Peace

Movement highlights:

• begins with French horn call which is answered by soft flutes
• harp and celeste utilized well
• hallmark violin solo in key of F#
• warm oboe solo


The calm after the thunderous storm, Venus is peaceful, languid and lovely. A marked contrast from its preceding movement, Mars, Venus has an unmistakeable air of remote calm; serenity and tranquillity are two adjectives I have seen used to describe this music. Utter placidness prevails, yet this movement is not without interesting melody or musical content. French horns, flutes, a harp and violin solos all play beautiful melodies. It is quite lovely, and the fact that it follows violent and thunderous Mars only goes to highlight this further.

Venus is announced by four ascending notes in the solo horn and a sequence of converging chords in the flutes and oboes. Most of her music lies, symbolically, in the middle and upper registers of the instruments; and harps, celestes, and glockenspiel further characterise her heavenly nature. In addition there are beautiful melodies for her in the solo violin and oboe. Though this is music of surpassing serenity it is not simple in harmony, texture or orchestral sonority. One cannot help but observe how fitting it is that the state of peace be described in complex terms, in contrast to the complicity of the depiction of war.

"Venus" recalls Holst's earlier almost salon-like vein. His daughter Imogen apparently heard the "last, lingering spores" of Holst's infatuation with Wagner's music here.

Venus is splendorous, has lovely eyes, and is the inspirer of poets.
It is tempting to apply our contemporary Men Are from Mars and Women Are from Venus psychology to these first two movements, but the composer never made such gender allusions. The intention was, according to Holst’s daughter and biographer Imogen, simply to “bring the right answer to Mars.” “The Bringer of Peace,” therefore, exists in a serene land that cannot be disturbed. Steady pulses freely undulate their way through this tender scene with light orchestration and a gentle sense of rubato.

[Diapason]

Listening to this movement as I read, and it's utterly gorgeous. It even reminds me of Debussy in places (that's meant as a compliment) but still retaining that English pastoral sense. Lovely.