# Pluto: Let's add him to Gustav Holst' cycle of The Planets



## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

My first cucumber seasoned thought about Pluto was: not taken up in Gustav Holst' composition of 'The Planets'. So this means we are free to make out own musical thoughts about this lonely planet. My imaginations about Pluto in music are circling around: 'lonely', 'gloomy', 'opulent' (Pluto/Hades being the richest of all the gods), which leads me to Jean Sibelius' brooding on the verge of nothingness. What are your musical associations with Pluto?


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

It has been done.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

And several times, You should read up on Holst, the planets was written before "pluto" was "discovered", hence it would be historically incorrect to ad pluto to the suite!

/ptr


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Someone should do the exoplanets.


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## Proms Fanatic (Nov 23, 2014)

There are currently five dwarf planets - maybe someone could compose the "Dwarf Planet suite"?


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Proms Fanatic said:


> There are currently five dwarf planets - maybe someone could compose the "Dwarf Planet suite"?


You should pass Your hat around for a collection and subsequent poll of to whom the commission should be awarded! 
I have about €4 in my pocket, I'd gladly donate them towards this project! (Anyway, there's something alike this featured on Rattle's Planets release of quite recent date! called "The Asteroid's" IRC)

/ptr


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

BTW Pluto (the ex-planet) isn't lonely. He has a companion.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Plenty of new blurry photos of the surface features for the History Channel nutjobs to construe as alien bases. Let's be satisfied with that development.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Couchie said:


> Plenty of new blurry photos of the surface features for the History Channel nutjobs to construe as alien bases. Let's be satisfied with that development.


Not so blurry today.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

KenOC said:


> Not so blurry today.
> http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/15-152.png


Sorry Ken, but that could easily be photo of my behind in B&W! 

/ptr


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

The Planets was composed about astrological signs, not actual planets; so anything discovered in the present flyby is irrelevant.

Fun discussion, though.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

geralmar said:


> The Planets was composed about astrological signs, not actual planets; so anything discovered in the present flyby is irrelevant.
> 
> Fun discussion, though.


That's the standard quibble. But those astrological 'signs' were _tied to_ the planets and their apparent motions. So there.


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

For a late '50s "lounge music" take on the solar system, there is Russ Garcia's "Fantastica," available on YouTube. Sorry; no Pluto.


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## Rhombic (Oct 28, 2013)

*Mad idea*

I had quite a bit of harmonic material "lying around" (interesting dissonant chords and non-tonal resolutions), but until this week I had left it for some future composition. However, after reading this a few days ago, I've realised that I could begin to compose "Pluto and Charon", an overture for symphonic orchestra... curiously enough, some of the things that I jotted down months ago actually fit within the mysterious nature of Pluto and its inaccessibility.
So anyway, I've started to work on this new project, after having read and practised quite a lot of orchestration this year (to be honest, I have never composed anything for orchestra due to self-consciousness of how I lacked the necessary orchestration skills to support symphonic music... which led me to reading as much as possible and formally analysing two Myaskovsky symphonies). Anyway. I'm not Shostakovich [or -even- John Williams, for that matter] but I feel confident with this.
(So far, I've generally composed quite a lot for chamber groups, piano, percussion and that's about it - I'm rather satisfied with those pieces but the orchestra is very intimidating)


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

NASA has released a couple of very nice animated fly-overs of Pluto. On YouTube.


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

geralmar said:


> The Planets was composed about astrological signs, not actual planets; so anything discovered in the present flyby is irrelevant.
> 
> Fun discussion, though.


In that case there should be another movement, "Ophiuchus" :

*There's also a thirteenth star sign - Ophiuchus, or the serpent bearer. Ancient astronomers apparently omitted the sign so the 360-degree path of the sun could be divided into 12 neat, 30-degree slices.
*

from:

http://metro.co.uk/2015/03/23/think-you-know-your-star-sign-youre-probably-mistaken-5117273/


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Dr Johnson said:


> In that case there should be another movement, "Ophiuchus" :
> 
> *There's also a thirteenth star sign - Ophiuchus, or the serpent bearer. Ancient astronomers apparently omitted the sign so the 360-degree path of the sun could be divided into 12 neat, 30-degree slices.
> *
> ...


There is always this human longing for elegant mathematical solutions: 12 is OK, 13 is not. We just want the math to win.


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## Gaspard de la Nuit (Oct 20, 2014)

Dr Johnson said:


> In that case there should be another movement, "Ophiuchus" :
> 
> *There's also a thirteenth star sign - Ophiuchus, or the serpent bearer. Ancient astronomers apparently omitted the sign so the 360-degree path of the sun could be divided into 12 neat, 30-degree slices.
> *
> ...


The 12 traditional zodiac/ astrology signs are given ruling planets (or "planets", since the Sun and Moon are used as well) - Pluto, after it was discovered, was assigned to Scorpio, which now has both Mars and Pluto as patron planets in the Western Tropical system (Pluto is not really paid attention to in the Vedic system, which is actually more advanced in certain ways).

Anyway, there are some modern astrologers who include Ophiuchus, and apparently they assign Chiron to it.....so we'd be adding another movement to the suite.....


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

Well, well. It seems that there is a piece of music based on Ophiucus.


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