Astrological Origins
Gustav Holst had been fascinated by mysticism from a young age. He called astrology his ‘pet vice’ and would often work out horoscopes for his friends. In 1914, finding that cosmic symbolism was also suggesting music, he began working on a set of orchestral pieces based on the astrological characteristics of the planets in our solar system (not including Earth).
This kind of extra-musical inspiration was common for Holst who, unlike his friend Ralph Vaughan Williams, never wrote an ‘abstract’ symphony. Still, composing The Planets took time. ‘It grew in my mind slowly’, Holst recalled, ‘like a baby in a mother’s womb.’ He was also held back by his duties as a teacher, and by neuritis in his right arm, and didn’t complete the piece until 1917.
First performed in 1918, The Planets was an enormous success, bringing Holst fame and, with it, demand for follow-up pieces.
Cosmic Characters
Each movement in Holst’s suite evokes the personality of a planet according to astrological charts.
Mars, the Bringer of War
Brutal and elemental – a terrifying portrait of warfare. (Though unlikely to be inspired by World War I, which broke out just as he had finished sketching the movement; as his daughter pointed out, Holst ‘had never heard of a machine gun and the tank had not yet been invented’.)
Venus, the Bringer of Peace
Ethereal and delicate. Venus here represents peace, rather than love (as in ancient Roman mythology).
Mercury, the Winged Messenger
Carried along on the lightest of currents, this quicksilver spirit vanishes as quickly as he appears.
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
Jovial and avuncular. Standing for – in the words of Holst’s own astrological chart – ‘abundance of life and vitality’.
Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
A pained, desolate procession – but perhaps with a sense of quiet optimism.
Uranus, the Magician
Quirky and devilish. A ‘series of merry pranks’ that lollop, fizzle and pop.
Neptune, the Mystic
Alluring, otherworldly, reflective – built not so much on melody as on melodic shadows and misty patterns.
Orchestral Flair
The Planets is written for enormous orchestral forces, masterfully handled by Holst. Mars, with its flaring brass and pounding timpani, conjures an earth-shattering picture, peaking in the final moments as full-orchestra hits reign down mercilessly. In stark contrast, Venus employs harp, celeste and glockenspiel to evoke twinkling stars.
Holst also uses novel combinations to great effect: a rollicking tune in Jupiter is split between two timpanists, who fill in each other’s notes like jubilant bellringers; Mercury’s scurrying lines are passed around different sections of the orchestra, trying on different instrumental colours along the way.
All this creates a feast for the imagination, while the movements’ contrasting moods heighten the excitement. Then there are the tunes – rousing, folkish and instantly memorable (Holst was a keen folk-song collector, while the melody at the heart of Jupiter would become the famous hymn ‘I vow to thee, my country’). And binding it all together are strange, swirling harmonies that perfectly encapsulate the mysticism at the heart of the suite.
Little surprise, then, that The Planets went on to inspire so many film and video-game composers: there is more than a hint of Holst in John Williams’s ‘Imperial March’ from Star Wars, or in Howard Shore’s iconic score to The Lord of the Rings.
Stars Aligned
Despite being his most famous work, The Planets is, in many ways, quite unlike anything else Holst wrote. He was an inveterate experimenter, drawing on an eclectic mix of inspirations from folk music to Eastern philosophy. There was never any thought as to musical fashion or marketability. But with The Planets his own priories and popular tase happened to align.
Holst was also fortunate: completed during World War I, his suite demanded a huge orchestra which, at the time, was difficult to come by. If it hadn’t been for Balfour Gardiner, a wealthy composer who put up the money for a private performance, a public one may never have followed.
Holst never quite achieved the same level of success again. Many of the remarkable works he produced after The Planets, such as First Choral Symphony (1923–4) and Hammersmith for military band (1930), were poorly received, and after his death in 1934 his reputation dwindled.
Attitudes have, thankfully, shifted. Today, 150 years after his birth, Holst is widely accepted as one of the most profoundly original voices in British music.
Written from the Heart
The Planets encapsulates several themes that were important to Holst. He believed that expressing emotion was ‘the fundamental necessity in all art’ and his suite, with it rousing melodies and thumping rhythms, certainly captures a wealth of intense feeling.
But there are other, more subtle touchstones in the music. Holst loved cyphers, and so begins Uranus with a four-note theme spelling out, via musical code, his first name and family-name initial. Saturn, a desperately bleak procession into old age, was Holst’s favourite movement – but was it also autobiographical? Afterall, he was physically infirm, had poor eyesight and, even as a boy, felt prematurely aged. Combined, these personal touches make for a work of powerful authenticity.
Written by Timmy Fisher, sub-editor within the BBC Proms Publications team, co-host of The Classical Music Pod, writer and journalist.
