About The Planets Online
The Concert
'The Planets Op. 32' by Gustav Holst
Performed by the Auburn Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Anthony Spain
Featuring the Seattle Pacific University Women's Chorus
Choreographed visuals and lighting: 'The Planets Live' by Adrian Wyard
Sound by Bill Levey
Commentators
Music Composition: Bath Philharmonia Music Director, Jason Thornton
All others: Adrian Wyard
New commentaries will be added over time. To see what we're working on follow this link
Web Site
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Venus is marked Adagio (Slow) in Eflat Major (3 flats) with no expression markings
Venus the Bringer of Peace
The movement opens with a solo french horn
Venus provides a welcome reprise after the onslaught of war; peace and harmony are restored. This movement finds Holst at his most lyrical
Missions to Venus
A beautiful answer to the melody in a choir of 4 flutes and 3 oboes
Venus - the cloud planet (Wikipedia)
Venus (aka 'The Evening Star') is bright because it is shrouded in reflective clouds
While Holst titled this movement 'The bringer of peace,' Venus is traditionally also associated with love. The visuals for this movement loosely depicts a romantic relationship
This image is made by combining two sources: A visible-light image and a radar-derived model of the surface (NASA/Goddard/SVS/JPL)
Venus is shown small - initially demure distant
Image data from the Magellan spacecraft
Holst drew inspiration for this movement from Venus the Roman goddess of love. Venus is also associated with Taurus and Libra
But she gets closer over time
For The Planets Holst makes use of a broad diversity of instruments
She’s shy and leaves for a moment
Main theme returns on solo french horn
But returns, shortly
This is an artistic impression of Venus because in real life it looks rather dull
An arpeggiated lower string passage
The music crescendos and we go down to surface - face to face
The violin solo is accompanied by a close harmony syncopated oboe choir
As we descend beneath the clouds the surface comes into view
New violin melody for all violins in the orchestra
The surface of Venus (NASA/JPL)
Clouds were added to this video to give a sense of depth and mystery
Venus’ carbon dioxide atmosphere and greenhouse warming makes it as hot as Mercury
Up from the surface (NASA/JPL/ESA)
More clouds added for effect
Venus has sulfuric acid rain!
Solo violin returns
A solo oboe takes a new version of the melody
A beautiful 'False Color' image of the surface (NASA/JPL/USGS)
This is a ‘false color’ image used by scientists to highlight surface features
She’s still shy, but before long
She reveals her full beauty
Listen out for a version of the original melody several octaves lower
Strings are muted (a rubber clip is attached to the bridge muffling the sound)
Muted violin theme returns
Return to the home key of Eflat major...
Sadly, our meeting is over, Venus must leave
But she can’t bare to go just yet - parting is such sweet sorrow
Contrary motion in Flutes and Horns...
All good things must come to an end - Venus says farewell, for now
Harp 2 provides a shimmering tremolo
Violins are very high in their range producing an ethereal effect
Marked Adagio (Slow) in Eflat Major (3 flats) with no expression markings
The movement opens with a solo french horn playing a beautifully simply rising melody. Almost exactly the same tune as the opening of the Opera Oberon by Weber
A beautiful answer to the melody in a choir of 4 flutes and 3 oboes moving in contrary motion (flutes going down and oboes going up). The second time this is heard the oboes are replaced by clarinets retaining the original contrary motion
Holst enables the orchestra to glitter and dazzle with the inclusion of two harps, glockenspiel and celeste. A celeste is a very novel addition to the orchestra. It is a keyboard instrument sounding an octave higher than written consisting of small bells hit by tiny mallets. Again at this point we hear a typical Holst idea of moving chromatically altered chords (harps, horns and flutes), over a pedal note. The pedals move downward by half step played by double basses and cello
Main theme returns on solo french horn maintaining the notion of ever present peace and serenity. with the contrary motion answering phrase in flutes and clarinets
An arpeggiated lower string passage leading to an enharmonic cadence of a Dflat 7 chord moving to an Fsharp major chord. If we read the first chord as Csharp major 7 and the second as Fsharp major, this is beautiful perfect cadence, moving into the dazzling brightness of Fsharp
The violin solo is accompanied by a close harmony syncopated oboe choir followed by unison violins playing this second melody
New violin melody for all violins in the orchestra, accompanied by a close harmony syncopated choir of oboes, cor anglais (english horn - a low oboe, clarinets and horn, proceeded by a solo oboe playing the same melody accompanied by a choir of flutes
Solo violin returns accompanied by a syncopated choir of flutes in their low tessitura (range)
A solo oboe takes a new version of the melody dropping a semitone to Fmajor from Fsharp major. This melody superimposed with an earlier melodic fragment concluding with a passionate version played by strings followed by solo cello
Listen out for a version of the original melody several octaves lower in the cellos and double bass reintroducing the original glittering orchestration with the use of 2 harps and celeste, maintaining the idea of chromatically altered chords with pedal notes (in Eflat with a dominant pedal of Bflat)
Strings are muted (a rubber clip is attached to the bridge muffling the sound) with only 4 desks of 1st Violins and 4 desks of 2nd violins accompanying the main theme played by flute. 1st and 2nd violins are in contrary motion
Muted violin theme returns accompanied by a flute choir in Fflat major (enharmonically Emajor) proceeded by a horn and cello solo using the same melodic material
Return to the home key of Eflat major with sparkling orchestration including scalic figures on harps and celeste as well as beautiful arppegiated accompaniment figures in Harp 1, clarinet and flutes followed by violins
Contrary motion in Flutes and Horns colored with the use of harp harmonics (plucked at certain parts of the string - they sound an octave higher than written giving a very pure floating sound). Celeste has the main rhythmic and melodic movement, the rest of the orchestra accompanies very quietly
Harp 2 provides a shimmering tremolo (fast oscillation on the same note). In this case an Eflat and Dsharp. They are played on different strings on the harp and hence can do a rapid oscillation - a classic Holst orchestral coloring effect
Violins are subdivided into 4 separate parts very high in their range producing an ethereal effect as if floating on the final chord. The final chord of eflat is left floating and the celeste adds a final C effectively making it a Cmin seventh, hence the apparent lack of resolution
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