Who Is Gustav Holst's The Planets?

The power of music can convey so much meaning to anything you write about. With Gustav

Holst’s The Planets Op. 32, Holst conveys his view of the solar system and the lore of the planet’s names from mythology through music. Although of some Germanic background on his father’s side, Gustav Holst was thoroughly English, born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,

England. He was a composer and choral director who wrote the The Planets from 1914-1916.

The Planets consists of seven suites each based upon the planets of the solar system and their mythological origin. When creating the piece, Holst pieced together the suites in a particular arrangement to capture a certain flow and an almost story-like composition to his piece, moving from grandiose, to soothing

In the first suite, the piece starts strong and triumphant, named after Mars or otherwise known as Ares in Greek mythology as the god of war. The first part of the suite is Mars, the Bringer of

War, which starts with an ominous foreboding sound. Upon first listening, many listeners may also recognize some bars of this piece as familiar because, "Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune from The

Planets are among the most plagiarized and quoted musical compositions of all time. Virtually

Rokakis 2 every science fiction movie or battle movie has a score directly inspired by these movements”

(TV Tropes). Mars sounds angry and frightening to a degree as if it wants to destroy the solar system. The suite remains at a strong fortissimo (loud) and has a triumphant mood to it. Mars, with its cold climate and red soil, one could interpret the story of this piece as if the coming of a great war draws near. This piece can also be interpreted for the solar system as a whole, and how powerful and chaotic the system can be. As suite comes to a close and the war of Mars ends, peace gives way making room for love and prosperity. As the sounds of war with Mars die down, we enter a time of peace with