Holst The Planets

Sir Mark Elder conducts a dramatic programme in which three iconic composers pay homage to the places, people and ideas that had a profound impact on their lives.

Vaughan Williams described his Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus as 'reminiscences of various versions' of the traditional folk tune. Known as The Star of County Down in Ireland and Gilderoy in Scotland, the multiple versions are reinterpreted and revived, the evocative melody weaving throughout the strings.  

Following this is Brahms’ Double Concerto, performed by LSO Principals Tim Hugh and Roman Simovic. Brahms’ wrote the work as a gesture of reconciliation and friendship to Joseph Joachim, virtuoso violinist and the composers’ estranged friend. Finally, Holst’s iconic work The Planets honours not only astrology and Greek mythology, but the progression of human life itself, from the tumult of Mars, the peace-bringer Mercury, to the struggle with the supernatural of Neptune the Mystic.