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The Planets

The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its supposed astrological character.

This article is about the orchestral suite by Gustav Holst. For the planets in the Solar System, see Solar System.

The Planets

32

Astrology

1914 (1914)–17

Seven

Orchestra and female chorus

29 September 1918 (1918-09-29)

Queen's Hall, London

Adrian Boult

The premiere of The Planets was at the Queen's Hall, London, on 29 September 1918, conducted by Holst's friend Adrian Boult before an invited audience of about 250 people. Three concerts at which movements from the suite were played were given in 1919 and early 1920. The first complete performance at a public concert was given at the Queen's Hall on 15 November 1920 by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Albert Coates.


The innovative nature of Holst's music caused some initial hostility among a minority of critics, but the suite quickly became and has remained popular, influential and widely performed. The composer conducted two recordings of the work, and it has been recorded at least 80 times subsequently by conductors, choirs and orchestras from the UK and internationally.

: four flutes (third doubling first piccolo and fourth doubling second piccolo and "bass flute in G", actually an alto flute),[26] three oboes (third doubling bass oboe), one cor anglais, three clarinets in B♭ and A, one bass clarinet in B♭, three bassoons, one contrabassoon

Woodwinds

: six horns in F, four trumpets in C, two trombones, one bass trombone, one tenor tuba in B♭ (often played on a euphonium), one tuba

Brass

: six timpani (two players); triangle, side drum, tambourine, cymbals, bass drum, gong, tubular bells, glockenspiel (three players), xylophone (two players)

Percussion

: organ, celesta

Keyboards

: two harps, violins i, ii, violas, cellos, double basses

Strings

The work is scored for a large orchestra. Holst's fellow composer Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote in 1920, "Holst uses a very large orchestra in the Planets not to make his score look impressive, but because he needs the extra tone colour and knows how to use it".[25] The score calls for the following instrumentation. The movements vary in the combinations of instruments used.


In Neptune, two three-part women's choruses (each comprising two soprano sections and one alto section) located in an adjoining room which is to be screened from the audience are added.

Bax, Clifford (1936). Ideas and People. London: Lovat Dickson.  9302579.

OCLC

Boult, Adrian (1973). My Own Trumpet. London: Hamish Hamilton.  978-0-24-102445-4.

ISBN

Boult, Adrian (1979). Music and Friends. London: Hamish Hamilton.  978-0-24-110178-0.

ISBN

Greene, Richard (1995). Holst: The Planets. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  978-0-52-145000-3.

ISBN

Holst, Gustav (1921). . London: Boosey & Hawkes. OCLC 873691404.

The Planets: Suite for Large Orchestra

Holst, Imogen (1974). A Thematic Catalogue of Gustav Holst's Music. London: Faber & Faber.  978-0-57-110004-0.

ISBN

Holst, Imogen (1981). Holst. London: Faber & Faber.  978-0-57-118032-5.

ISBN

Holst, Imogen (1986). The Music of Gustav Holst. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.  978-0-19-315458-2.

ISBN

Holst, Imogen (2008) [1969]. Gustav Holst: A Biography (second ed.). London: Faber & Faber.  978-0-571-24199-6.

ISBN

Kennedy, Michael (1987). . London: Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 978-0-33-348752-5.

Adrian Boult

Leo, Alan (1905). What is a Horoscope and How is it Cast? (second ed.). London: Modern Astrology.  561872689.

OCLC

Short, Michael (1990). . Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-314154-4.

Gustav Holst: The Man and his Music

Vaughan Williams, Ursula (1964). . Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-315411-7.

RVW: A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams

The Planets