Gustav Holst - The Planets: Classic or Dud?

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Classical music is awesome. It's just like prog but it's even better.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Monday, 16 December 2002 23:11 (twenty-three years ago)

This piece is classic. The women's chorus part is excellent.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 16 December 2002 23:15 (twenty-three years ago)

It's just like prog but it's even better.

Not necessarily.

But, yes, The Planets is totally classic. Going from "Mars" directly to "Venus" is an mindblowing shift, too.

― Joe (Joe), Monday, 16 December 2002 23:17 (twenty-three years ago)

Easily my favourite "classical" work...and you get the added benefit of knowing where John Williams has ripped off all of his ideas! The album sounds so much like modern sci fi movie scores that it's jarring when you find out that it was written almost 90 years ago.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 16 December 2002 23:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah, that chrous part is ace, 'Neptune' isn't it? God knows how mysterious the Pluto suite would have been if it had been discovered at the time.

Re: Sci-fi scores, isn't one of the suites used in Forbidden Planet? And the Alien(s) theme owes such a huge debt it's untrue.

"Classical" classic

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Monday, 16 December 2002 23:34 (twenty-three years ago)

suite in e flat=total classic (!). during the first bit, when the woodwinds take the melody that's all minor and shit, that's just the same as the brass part at the beginning....but upside down (like physically)! total genius, 'cause both are really nice.

― ddd, Monday, 16 December 2002 23:35 (twenty-three years ago)

We played "Mars" in All-State Band when I was a senior in high school, and I can attest that the tuba part is ass-breakingly difficult but OH SO COOL AND FUN TO PLAY!!

― Clarke B., Tuesday, 17 December 2002 03:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Classic.

The recent Pluto movement however = DUD

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Tuesday, 17 December 2002 10:50 (twenty-three years ago)

There was a recent Pluto movement? Who on earth thought they could add that on?

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Tuesday, 17 December 2002 13:20 (twenty-three years ago)

i've had this on cd for a while now,but haven't really gotten into it yet...not sure why,i don't think i've really listened to it much,i must give it another shot...

― robin (robin), Tuesday, 17 December 2002 14:08 (twenty-three years ago)

There was a recent Pluto movement? Who on earth thought they could add that on?

who else but the doyen of British dud composers, Colin Matthews -
http://www2.hyperion-records.co.uk/details/67270.asp

Holst = classic btw, but sundar's post = even more classic!

― Jeff W, Tuesday, 17 December 2002 14:37 (twenty-three years ago)

classic ... but overused. I love Jupiter but if I hear it on another party political broadcast ...

― phil jones (interstar), Tuesday, 17 December 2002 14:58 (twenty-three years ago)

Hey, a thought...what version does everyone have of this, and for those that have heard more than one, what version do you prefer? I have the Andrew Davis version on Angel; someone had told me that the Dutoit version was THE version, but it just didn't do it for me, for some reason.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 17 December 2002 21:50 (twenty-three years ago)

I had an old budget LP with Sir Adrian Boult, only I think he was moonlighting with some makeshift orchestra. It had a real cheap 'Lost In Space'-style studio photo on the front with models holding zap guns.

― Curt (cgould), Tuesday, 17 December 2002 22:16 (twenty-three years ago)

one year passes...

The Planets is a real warhorse of the modern repertoire. Its influence can be felt in movie music where the then-dreams of flight were better voiced than in so many predecessors where space flight had become a reality. Heavy reliance on Holst as a form of self-validation is so obvious out there -- but then again that's the very stuff of why classics are often made, and don't just occur.

― Tom Wood, Friday, 19 December 2003 13:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Classic. I love the bit where in the beginning of Jupiter where it goes BUM bum bum BUM bum bum BUM bum bum BUM bum bum...

Where the mad percussiony bit is, you know...

Although I do prefer the Holst/Grieg Mashup.

― Jole, Friday, 19 December 2003 13:17 (twenty-two years ago)

four years pass...

does anyone know what instrument is playing near the end of Saturn? i can't tell if it's a harp, or a few different strings playing pizzicato..

also, the 'Venus' is pretty much the best piece of music ever.

― poortheatre, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 18:35 (eighteen years ago)

Didn't some guy write an extra one for Pluto? Bet he's feeling foolish now.

― chap, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 19:02 (eighteen years ago)

Yes, see aboove re: Colin Matthews' "Pluto." I recently attended a performance w/ Pluto appended, and it didn't suck or anything, but also wasn't really necessary. The Planets was indeed my stepping stone from prog to appreciating classical and opera.

― Dan Peterson, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 19:25 (eighteen years ago)

Dude I LOVE THE PLANETS so much, esp. Tomita's version.

― Abbott, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 19:27 (eighteen years ago)

For extra classic points get stones then listen to Mars on headphone. When the main theme gets belted by the strings a couple of minutes in . . .

― The Wayward Johnny B, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 19:33 (eighteen years ago)

Pluto isn't even a planet anymore! I believe it got re-classified.

Classic, obviously - just ask everybody who ripped it off. I've owned 5-6 versions at various times over the years and it always gets me off.

― Myonga Vön Bontee, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 20:06 (eighteen years ago)

glad this isnt like stevie wonder c/d

― deej, Wednesday, 9 January 2008 20:17 (eighteen years ago)

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