Program Notes
The Planets
The Planets
By Gustav Holst
GUSTAV HOLST British Composer 1874-1934
Holst was born into a family with a long history of involvement in music. In spite of this and studying with the eminent Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (who also taught Holst’s close friend Ralph Vaughan Williams) he had not had much success as a composer. Before the outbreak of World War I, it could be said that he was truly going through a midlife crisis. In some ways though, this anonymity may have helped lay the foundation for the Planets, as according to his daughter, Holst’s disposition would lead him to say things like “It’s a great thing to be a failure. If nobody likes your work, you have to go on just for the sake of the work.” In August of 1914 he therefore quietly began composing The Planets. Sometimes composers are ahead of their time and it is interesting that he composed Mars “The Bringer of War” just before the outbreak of World War I. Stravinsky’s revolutionary Rite of Spring with its savage sounds, was also composed just before the outbreak of World War I.
The arrival of war also meant that there would be no hope of getting this massive piece for orchestra performed, which may have been just fine for Holst. The work was originally composed for two pianos, with the exception of Neptune which was composed for organ, so as to help achieve a more mystical sound. In 1918 though, with financial help from his friend, H. Balfour Gardiner, a private performance for full orchestra and choir was made possible in the closing weeks of World War I and was attended by over 250 friends and colleagues. Gradually the piece acquired tremendous success which would have made most composers happy, but not Holst. He, like Ravel after the success of his Bolero, found that, once having composed a wildly successful piece, it is a hard act to follow. This would lead Holst to remark to a friend “that every artist ought to pray that he may not be a success.”
The inspiration for The Planets came during a tour of Spain in 1913 with fellow traveler Clifford Bax who introduced him to astrology, and soon afterwards Holst wrote to a friend stating “...recently the character of each planet suggested lots to me.” It would be good not read too much into this however, as Holst later swore off astrology and stated that “there is no program music” in The Planets. Program music or not, the symbolism of each of the planets is felt strongly throughout, with musical influences of Ravel, Schoenberg and to some extent Stravinsky. What we are ultimately left with incorporates superb orchestration in a piece that is striking in its originality. It is not difficult to see why this work has, for generations, gripped the imagination and led others such as ourselves to present it to you in new and inspired ways