THE PLANETS

Gustav Holst

GUSTAV HOLST

Gustav Holst was a British composer who was born in Cheltenham, England in 1874 and died in London in 1934. Holst was the composer of many choral part-songs, song cycles, operas and orchestral pieces. He is perhaps best known for his orchestral suite, entitled The Planets.

THE PLANETS

The planets is the most famous piece of Gustav Holst and it was written between 1914 and 1918. The piece has seven suites, each one with the name of a planet.

MAR

MARS

Mars means the bringer of war.The piece is tormenting and some say that it´s the

most devasting piece ever written.

This piece was the first one finished, one month before the first world war.

Venus

Venus seems to provide an answer to Mars. It means

the bringer of peace.

Mercury

Mercury means the messenger between our world and the other

ones. It transmit agility and lightness.

Jupiter

Jupiter means the bringer of happiness. Jupiter represents the prime of life, even with

the overplayed central melody, which was later arranged to the words of "I vow to thee,

my country.

Saturn

Saturn means the carrier of the oldness.This piece is the favorite one for Holst.

Through "Saturn" it can be said that old age is not always peaceful and happy.

Uranus

Uranus means the magician.It was used in ``L'apprenti de

sorcier´´ by Paul Dukas

Neptune

Neptune means the mystic.It uses a feminine choir. He locates it behind the

scene, " in a contiguous room, which door must remain opened until the piece

finishes and everything stays silent " as the indications of the score say.

The other planets, The Earth and Pluto weren´t used to call a movement of this suit. This was because he didn´t consider Pluto as a planet although the scientists of that ages considered it. He didn´t use The Earth because the suit was based on mythology and The Earth wasn´t so mythological that he didn´t know it.

The other planets

THE PLANETS IN FILMS

The music of the widely known ´´Star Wars´´ film was based in Holst's piece the planets.

John Williams wrote it transmitting in mythological ideas for the film. He copied some parts from Holst.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL215EACB01F502784&v=L0bcRCCg01I&feature=player_detailpage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gXIGuxDss58&list=PL0A09E88C4F604AB4