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Gustav Holst The Planets

Gustav Holst The Planets . By Spencer Vail . His Life. Born September 21 st 1874 in Gloucestershire, England Father: Adolph Holst was a harp composer Due to constant illness as a child he picked up music quite easily. Began composing around 12

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Gustav Holst The Planets

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  1. Gustav Holst The Planets By Spencer Vail

  2. His Life • Born September 21st 1874 in Gloucestershire, England • Father: Adolph Holst was a harp composer • Due to constant illness as a child he picked up music quite easily. • Began composing around 12 • As a child could play the piano, violin and trombone

  3. His Life Cont. • Educated at Cheltenham grammar school for boys • Attended Royal college of Music on scholarship, where he studied composition with Charles Stanford • Met best friend Ralph Wiliams

  4. His Life Cont. • While at Royal college Holst obsessively began studying the music of Wagner. • Joined the Hammersmith society while at Royal • Holst became a socialist for the rest of his life.

  5. His Life Cont. • First music job was with Carl Rosa Opera Company and the Scottish Orchestra • Married in 1901 to Emily Harrison, a soprano. • His only daughter was born in 1907 her name was Imogen

  6. His Life Cont. • First teaching job was being a music master at the James Allen Girls school in London. • Shortly later became the Director of Music at St Pauls Girls school. • Finally he took a position of the Director of Music at Morely College.

  7. His Life Cont. • Holst traveled to Algeria in 1908, this experience inspired the piece Beni Mora • Holst was a frequent traveler of the world. • His Travels to Spain were his most important

  8. His Life Cont. • While living in Essex, Holst began work on the Planets. • In 1922 he used technological advances to record his music with the London Symphony Orechestra, and did a complete recording of The Planets. • Later in 1927 Holst composed the piece Egdon Heath

  9. His Life Cont. • Holst suffered from poor health his entire life and finally died in London following a stomach surgery in May of 1934.

  10. Composition History:The Planets • The Planets as a whole is based on Astrology. • Despite common belief Holst based this piece on the influence the planets have on the psych no the Roman Dieties. • The idea of The Planets came to Holst in 1913 while in Spain.

  11. Composition History Continued • The Planets was done originally as a piano duet, except for Neptune which was to be done by an organ alone. • Holst later rewrote the whole piece to be done by an entire orchestra.

  12. Composition History Cont. • The Planets was written to be a seven movement orchestra piece. • It was officially created in between 1914 and 1916 while Holst lived in Essex. • Each movement was named after a separate planet, excluding Earth • Since produced as a full orchestra piece it has become one of the most widely played and popular pieces.

  13. Listening GuideThe Planets: Mars • :32 the entire Orchestra begins a crescendo. • :47 orchestra plays at a dynamic level of a strong Mezzo forte. • 1:00 Strings join the brass in playing the melody till it climaxes to a cadence • 1:25 The brass plays a new melody with the trumpets becoming the lead voice

  14. Mars Continued • 3:00 A slower melody is played by the orchestra in a lower voice. • This part of the piece the over all sound becomes incredibly dark and mysterious. • At 3:27 The trumpets and snare drums play an accented triplets to build up before the next climax.

  15. Mars Continud • 4:12 this is the climax of the piece here the whole orchestra is playing at a dynamic level to in a dark tone. • Later around 4:38 the dynamic level drops to a forte level. The sound being produced is dark and aggressive. • At the end around 6:34 the strings add the final build to the end of the piece and finally end on a tonic cord.

  16. The Planets:Jupiter • :30 The strings being with repeated sixteenth notes followed by horns and low brass exchanging melody • At 1:45 the horns start a new melody with the strings playing down the beats. • 3:11 starts with the strings playing a unison line with a crescendo up to the top phrase.

  17. Jupiter Continued • 4:00 the range of the melody is in a much higher range played by the strings. • 4:38 Section C climaxes, the downbeats continue to be strong with the strings at a fortissimo dynamic level • 5:03 the woodwinds reintroduce previously played themes with the clarinet, flute, and oboe

  18. Jupiter Continued • 5:26 The brass join the woodwinds in playing reintroduced previous themes. • 6:47 There is a key change and a driving motion with an increased tempo, the trumpets become quite loud and exchange melody with the horns and low strings. • 7:26 A recapitulation of section C combined with the melody of Section B with low voices playing the melody. • The piece ends with low brass and percussion playing quite fortissimo and short sixteenth notes, while the strings and high woodwinds play a repeated pattern similar to the opening section.

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