gustav holst: saturn and neptune

a cool late-spring afternoon. the sun is shining. trees that can blossom are blossoming. the wind is gusting around a lot blowing the dust off everything in its path. at the moment, i am happily ensconsed on the inside of my home. gustav holst’s planet suite is playing in my headphones . . . . echoing in part the current excitement around the recent landing of the phoenix mission that i wrote about a few days ago . . .

holst, despite his germanic name was actually born in england with the surname von holst which he wisely dropped during world war 1 in response to the anti-german sentiment which was undoubtedly prevalent during that time.

music flowed throughout the family making it a certainty that gustav would at the very least be immersed in its presence. his grandfather was a composer, while his parents were players of music. gustav holst is most widely known for his composition the planets. the planets stretched the rules of composition as well as the use of instrumentation for its time and yet incredibly was originally scored for two pianos except for neptune which was to have been played by a solo organ.

holst reportedly hated the popularity of the planets and its attendant bringing of fame to himself. when people would ask for his autograph, he gave them a typed sheet of paper that stated that he didn't give out autographs. the planets was first performed in a private concert in 1918 with adrian boult conducting as a gift from henry balfour gardiner. the first complete performance of the piece was under albert coates in 1920.
i wish i could recall the first time i heard the planet suite but it’s been a part of my life for as long as i can remember and colours so many periods and moments that i can’t distinguish one from the other. the first time i truly heard the planets i was drawn into the piece entitled “saturn“ . . . rendered here in a very subtle and delicate manner . . . which brought me to what has become my favourite piece of the planets - neptune. i particularly love the recurring theme and most especially, the choral ending which is echoed in elements of vaughan william’s soundtrack for the film “scott of the antarctic” which was written into a larger piece of music later released as symphony no. 7 or sinfonia antarctica.