All My CDs, pt 58: The Planets

The Planets - Gustav Holst

The Planets is one of the best-known classical suites among non-classical fans. I remember getting a recording of it for myself because I was writing a science fiction story taking place in our fair solar system, and thought it might provide some good musical inspiration.

At first I found myself skipping most of the tracks except for Mars and Jupiter, the most iconic movements, but since then my appreciation has expanded. Now the only movements I like to skip are  Venus and Neptune.

Mars is really exciting for a piece that consists largely of repetitive cords tapping out an urgent rhythm. I've heard that the reason it's so pants-wettingly scary to listen to is that it was inspired by World War I, which was being fought when the suite was written. It may not have been the war to end all wars, but historians seem to universally agree that it changed warfare as we know it, radically and terrifyingly.

Mercury is a playful little ditty and infectiously joyful, but in terms of sheer Joviality it's far outshined by Jupiter, which somehow manages to sound grand and lighthearted at the same time, like a magnanimous and generous ruler of a wildly prosperous realm. Jupiter also manages to have more memorable melodies than the other movements, which are more atmospheric than anything else. (Ironic, considering Jupiter as a planet contains more literal atmosphere than any other in the system). At least one of those melodies has been set to words, a testament to its lyricality.

Saturn is apparently Holst's favorite, even after he lost interest in his own suite, but I'm unsure why. I can definitely see how effectively its stately rhythm suggests time's unstoppable march, both plodding and desperately urgent (its subtitle is "Bringer of Old Age"). But in terms of pleasure of listening, it's not nearly as grabbing as some of the other movements. Perhaps Holst and I are paying attention to different things.

My own personal favorite, at least today, might be Uranus. It has almost all the grandeur of Jupiter and even some of its playfulness, but with a sinister edge, like that of a capricious and vindictive ruler.

The Planets were intended to portray not an image of the planets' physical reality, nor of the gods they are named for, but of their significance as astrological archetypes. In that I can't help but think they're quite successful. Each movement takes a relatively simple principle or concept, personifies it, and then scales it up to titanic proportions. And is that not the very definition of an archetype? I'm very glad to have this in my collection.

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