# Your Favorite of Holst's Planets (Poll & Discussion)



## Minor Sixthist (Apr 21, 2017)

_The Planets_ suite, as a whole, has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I suppose as an orchestral musician who started reasonably early, it's common to be introduced to one of the more known movements in elementary groups through band or orchestra arrangements. Early exposure could certainly open the book to exploration, and I value how my opinion on this epic set of pieces has matured and changed as I explored them further, especially as I got to play 6 of the 7 movements with a great symphony orchestra this past summer.

The dearest planet to me would have to be Saturn. I feel like it's a lesser-loved gem of the piece, with special depth and attention to detail. Saturn is the god of time and aging in Roman myth, analogous to Kronus in Greek myth, and from the sparse beginning section with that distinct repeated whole step, just up and down like a sluggish clock ticking, in the woodwinds/celeste and off the strong beat, the movement is immediately eerie, disturbed, and imploring. The next section is brought on my bass pizzicati that seem to speed the clock up, into this beautiful, soft trombone chorale, growing eventually into this really incredible climax - there's this part in that climactic moment where the trumpet seems to scream a desperate question at the universe (I-V movement) and the question seems to just be countered in the (V-I) that directly follows. The tuba has this concluding line that seems to go somewhere but ends up slowing into nothing. I see the asker just shrinking away with no answer, unfulfilled and subject as ever to the changing tides of time and the looming of death.

The piece reaches a second climax in what sounds to me like death stomping around among the scared mortals looking for its next victim, those heavy footfalls heard in very low gravelly notes from the low brass. When it seems all hope it lost, it once again starts to soften, and in the ending sequence there's this beautiful cascading line between the woodwinds and strings. The violins reach up to the VI of the scale when the audience might have expected a V instead; but it's not over there, because they repeat that line again, now reaching up to this absolutely glorious VII degree that just sounds like this blissful, cathartic release, and relief. I could never stop smiling and enjoying that moment from the back of the stage as I listened to them hit that beautiful note.

This movement has so much to be explored. I'm including Dutoit's recording with the Montreal Symphony. Hopefully some of you can appreciate this amazing movement as much as I do. I could talk about Uranus too, which is a close second for me, but I'll have time to discuss that in the comments if someone mentions it.






What are your favorite planets, as Holst interprets them? And why?

Edit: I originally tried including a poll, as the title implies. However, because of what I view as quite a confounding and frustrating design, one can't just create the poll as they're creating the post. Even though I ticked the box and put in 7 options, it seems you make the poll after posting the original thread. I've always had trouble with them on this site, it's a pain. At one point I pressed 'enter' thinking the poll options would pop up, but instead the thread just posted prematurely... without a poll. The poll is just completely lost now. Bad design for sure, but I suppose we could just achieve the same effects as one in the comments here.


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

A fine contender for "among the greatest of 20th century orchestral works" _The Planets_ is. Especially under the baton of Adrian Boult. Two movements of the piece have garnered extensive playing time over my stereo system over the years, though, of course, I've listened to the work complete many a time (I have multiple interpretations in my collection) and have heard it in concert; I even have the score on my book shelf. But "Mars" and "Jupiter" (and I know you will have guessed those were the two movements I referenced!) remain my favorite movements of the work, and likely will continue so. The opening of the "Mars" movement trumps nearly everything else for sheer brute power and force, and that gorgeous melody of the "Jupiter" movement lingers in my consciousness long after the actual music has stopped from either a live orchestra or my stereo speakers. It comes down to: I don't know whether to make war or be jolly -- why not do both and listen to Holst's _The Planets_ once again!


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Jupiter .


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

I enjoy Saturn as well, but I have to be in the mood for it. Jupiter and Mars always grab my attention when they come up.

This Mars, Karajan's 1961 with the VPO, is my favorite. Volcanic and nearly unhinged, but stays together and terrifies. The Jupiter on the same disc is also superb.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Karajan's old Decca recording with the VPO is my favourite recording too!

I'd say Mars and Jupiter for me. And "I vow to thee my country" is a very stirring hymn!!


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Im gonna be totally predictable here and state that Jupiter is still my favourite movement simply because it is one of the most beautiful melodies in music. Dutoit, Ozawa and Handley smash it for me. I love Mars too.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Saturn for me - maybe because I'm getting old! I've been lucky enough to play the entire work at least a dozen times, probably more. Never tire of it; always fascinating and profound. The contrabassoon part is one of the great ones for that unwieldy instrument. I've never heard bad recording, but Dutoit and Handley and Ormandy are excellent, Holst's own recording essential, and Tomita's version reprehensible.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

You know I've still never heard this work. I have the Dutoit/Montréal, got the CD for like a buck or two used. I better check it out one of these days.


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

mbhaub said:


> .... and Tomita's version reprehensible.


A side-track: I've yet to hear a crossover re-arrangement that works, at least not for me. Meco's disco arrangement of Star Wars, or the Bad Plus' jazz arrangement of The Rite of Spring, but Tomita's Planets stands out in the sense that, there's an almost defamatory quality to it. Maybe it's just me... To be fair, he could write decent orchestral music, but I suppose it was the synthesizer albums that sold.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

You should! Turn the lights out, crank the volume up high, (a subwoofer really helps) and immerse yourself. Extraordinary music start to finish.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

One that got excellent reviews but is not well known has become my go-to is by the Philharmonia/William Boughton. The recording is from Nimbus in 1988 and made in the Royal Albert Hall! The engineers managed to do an excellent job of capturing the sound and Albert Hall atmosphere but without it being absurdly reverberant.


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## brahms4 (May 8, 2017)

My very favorite recording would be the John Eliot Gardiner/Philharmonia on DG.I`ve got the SACD version.IMHO the sound is stunning and I enjoy the performance.The conventional CD layer is still as impressive as any other version that I`ve heard.I also enjoy the Decca Karajan,the Handley,and the Boult/LPO.I hate the Stokowski(EMI)-way too willful with strange balances in recording.Read somewhere that the persistent G-Eb-A-B motif in Uranus is based on Holst`s initials ala Bach-Shostakovich.Also,Holst admired Schoenberg`s Five Pieces for Orchestra and originally thought of his work as being Seven Pieces for Orchestra.Indeed, the very beginning of Saturn sounds amazingly similar to the beginning of the 3rd piece,Summer Morning by a Lake.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

Huh, I just saw this thread. I usually jump on Planets discussions.

My favorite movement is Saturn although it barely edges out Venus. 

I have the following recordings :
Bernstein 
Boughton 
Boult 1970
Dutoit 
Elder
Gardner 2017 proms youth orchestra recording 
Goodman 
Handley 
Jurowski 
Leaper
Levi 
Levine 
Mehta 
Ozawa
Previn 
Sargent 1958. 

My favorite would most likely be the Goodman recording. Others at the top of the list are Ozawa, Elder, Jurowski. The rest aren't slouches either. The weakest being Gardner's Proms recording, but hey it's kids playing not professionals and the YouTube video is fantastic.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I have to revise my earlier appraisal. This one, 50 years old, is now the top of the heap for me. It was always a top-contender. The conducting and playing are phenomenal. But now we can really hear it. The Blu Ray Audio disk in this is set is sensational. If you have a good AV set up, you need to hear this. I've listened four times this week and it's just remarkable how detailed the recording is. The picture isn't too good, but it's William Steinberg with the Boston Symphony.


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

Jupiter, from Bernard Herrmann's recording


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

I love The Planets! This has been my standing for a while:

_*1-2. Jupiter and Neptune* (strangely not because of the popular part of Jupiter)
*3. Saturn*
4-6. Not sure
*7. Mars*_

I think the *red* ones outclass the others. In my mind's eye, I would've switched the names of Jupiter and Mars. Jupiter Suite reminds me more of planet Mars, I think there's more adventure and 'bounce' on Mars, it's more habitable, whereas Jupiter is a big brooding storm.


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2019)

Little to choose between them. I used to prefer Mars, Uranus and Saturn over Jupiter, Neptune and Venus (Mercury is a leftover).

Now, it's a suite - I need to listen to them all for complete satisfaction.

I was raised on Sargent/LSO (my brother's copy, then my own "stereo treated"). Bought the Boult/LSO in 1978 - too slow; then the Dutoit/Montreal (too quirky). I also have my recording off the TV of MacKerras/BBCSO from the Proms a while back, and Lloyd-Jones/Royal Scottish National - both OK. The Lloyd-Jones has the addition of Pluto the Renewer, composed by Colin Matthews. The clip below is allegedly by Rattle/BPO


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

I'd say Venus, especially in Karajan's old VPO recording, which is sensuous and erotic, as it should be. I also rather like Neptune.

That said, though I listened to it loads when I was young, like a lot of popular works, I don't listen to it much these days. I should though. It's always good to visit old favourites, which usually justify their popularity when you hear them again.

I only have the one recording now, which is Andrew Davis with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. It's an excellent performance, though nostalgia has me longing for the old Karajan slightly.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

MacLeod said:


>


sounds like something composed by PDQ Bach


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

Jupiter has always been my best liked track.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

I love the Album cover


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

My favorite Planets recordings are not necessarily ones I would recommend -- just those that have special meaning for me.


1954, monophonic; 1965 reissue

My first Planets. The orchestra is somewhat dimly recorded-- recessed might be the more polite term-- but then the planets sound appropriately far away. This also my favorite jacket cover, although the Horsehead Nebula is neither a planet nor an astrological sign.


1966, stereo

My second recording, and I liked both the interpretation and sound. Critics often dismiss the recording because of a trumpet "clam" in Mars; but I can't detect it and wouldn't care anyway.

Note: All three EMI Boult recordings (1945, 1966, and 1978) are in this Warner Brothers box set:



Finally, I did a quick "inventory" of The Planets in my collection for another thread and counted 58 individual recordings. However, the champion collector is the owner of the Peters' Planets website. His reviews are valuable although subject to challenge.

https://petersplanets.wordpress.com


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

geralmar said:


> Finally, I did a quick "inventory" of The Planets in my collection for another thread and counted 58 individual recordings. However, the champion collector is the owner of the Peters' Planets website. His reviews are valuable although subject to challenge.
> 
> https://petersplanets.wordpress.com


Peter hasn't been on here for a while. He does show up every now and again but he's gone missing for some time, now. I have PM'd him to no avail.


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

Merl said:


> Peter hasn't been on here for a while. He does show up every now and again but he's gone missing for some time, now. I have PM'd him to no avail.


I'm surprised to read that. He is still active on another classical music website (which I'm not permitted to identify). His most recent post there was less than a week ago. I guess TC is not first in his priority sites.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

Saturn is my overall favorite. A real sense of mysticism permeates the whole piece. Uranus is my second favorite with its wizardry, and the main melody is just catchy. I sometimes feel it like The Sorcerer's Apprentice on steroids.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

Newly released. Available on Amazon or Presto. So new there are not even any user reviews yet. I have no ideas about it other than these reference recordings by the KC symphony are usually well recorded.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

mbhaub said:


> I have to revise my earlier appraisal. This one, 50 years old, is now the top of the heap for me. It was always a top-contender. The conducting and playing are phenomenal. But now we can really hear it. The Blu Ray Audio disk in this is set is sensational. If you have a good AV set up, you need to hear this. I've listened four times this week and it's just remarkable how detailed the recording is. The picture isn't too good, but it's William Steinberg with the Boston Symphony.
> View attachment 124766


I have heard this one in its original cd release and my issue was recording quality. This sounds interesting although I wouldn't have means to play it.


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## Harmonie (Mar 24, 2007)

Jupiter and Mars are fun to perform, but I think that over the years Venus, Saturn, and Neptune have been my favorites altogether. Those are the more "atmospheric" ones, no pun intended. They're really cool to be on stage when performing. I will never forget the really cool part of Saturn where nearly everything drops out and only the lowest instruments play the melody.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

fun piece to play....some wonderful bassoon parts [Uranus]....it's also fascinating to play the alternative parts for the many extra instruments....the first bassoon part has many cross-cued parts for flute IV, alto flute, bass oboe, etc....
i enjoy the Levine/CSO recording, and the Boult/NewPO recording as well...Boult's VSOO version is a mess.


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## PeterPowerPop (Mar 27, 2014)

Merl said:


> Peter hasn't been on here for a while. He does show up every now and again but he's gone missing for some time, now. I have PM'd him to no avail.


Sorry, folks, about not being on this forum for a while. I've been a member for ages, but completely forgot about it. Thanks to fellow forumite geralmar (Hi, Ger!), I'm back and ready to rumble.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

geralmar said:


> My favorite Planets recordings are not necessarily ones I would recommend -- just those that have special meaning for me.
> 
> 
> 1954, monophonic; 1965 reissue
> ...


That second Boult recording with the New Philharmonia from 1966 is really great. It vies with Dutoit for best recording, IMO. The Dutoit is more ethereal but that earlier Boult version is awfully powerful.


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## PeterPowerPop (Mar 27, 2014)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> That second Boult recording with the New Philharmonia from 1966 is really great. It vies with Dutoit for best recording, IMO. The Dutoit is more ethereal but that earlier Boult version is awfully powerful.


If you're looking for power, try the 1988 Colin Davis version. It kicks like a mule.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

PeterPowerPop said:


> If you're looking for power, try the 1988 Colin Davis version. It kicks like a mule.


Very good. Strong playing and great sound. I can see why it’s among the top recommendations.

I do think in Mars that Davis rushes ahead in spots, which actually diminishes the power. Boult was a master at pacing things just right.


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## PeterPowerPop (Mar 27, 2014)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> That second Boult recording with the New Philharmonia from 1966 is really great. It vies with Dutoit for best recording, IMO. The Dutoit is more ethereal but that earlier Boult version is awfully powerful.


My favourite of Boult's five (!) _Planets_ recordings is his 1954 version. It's in mono, but the sound quality is fine.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

*Holst's The Planets* has ALWAYS been a favorite of mine.

In my youth, and well into my 20s, *Mars* was my favorite movement. In my 30s and 40s it was *Jupiter*. Now that I'm in my late 60s, I'm very fond of *Venus*.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

PeterPowerPop said:


> My favourite of Boult's five (!) _Planets_ recordings is his 1954 version. It's in mono, but the sound quality is fine.


Agreed, taking sound out of the equation his earlier versions had the most pop. 1945 too.

But 1966 to me is the ideal mix of great sound and performance.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

I absolutely love the planets and always buy a ticket when it's being performed in London.

My favourite recordings at the moment are Beecham LPO EMI, Karajan VPO Decca and Dutoit Montreal Decca. 

I will also mention James Judd and the Royal Philharmonic on Denon in the same breadth with the foregoing heavyweights. An absolute scorcher of a performance in demonstration bracket sound quality.

The planets I like most in this piece are Mars and Venus. However, every single planet is amazing. It's a desert island piece for me. 

I find it quite a chuckle that Pluto has been deselected as a planet. 😆


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## PeterPowerPop (Mar 27, 2014)

HenryPenfold said:


> I absolutely love the planets and always buy a ticket when it's being performed in London.
> 
> My favourite recordings at the moment are Beecham LPO EMI, Karajan VPO Decca and Dutoit Montreal Decca.
> 
> ...


The Judd recording is fabulous.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

My two most favourites, personally I find them unbeatable that said the Judd is not bad .


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Here are my 'Top 6' favorite _Planets_ recordings:

Glitzy Hollywood blockbuster: Mehta/LA Philharmonic (Decca)
Barnburning, no-holds-bard: Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)
Measured slow-burn: Boult/LPO (EMI)
Ticks all the right boxes: Ormandy/Philadelphians (RCA)
Majestic, but with a bite: Karajan/Wiener Philharmoniker (Decca)
The glorious underdog: Groves/Royal Philharmonic (Castle Communications)


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## PeterPowerPop (Mar 27, 2014)

Oldhoosierdude said:


> Newly released. Available on Amazon or Presto. So new there are not even any user reviews yet. I have no ideas about it other than these reference recordings by the KC symphony are usually well recorded.
> 
> View attachment 124906


AllMusic have reviewed it:

Michael Stern, Kansas City Symphony - Holst: The Planets; The Perfect Fool Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic


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## PeterPowerPop (Mar 27, 2014)

Neo Romanza said:


> Here are my 'Top 6' favorite _Planets_ recordings:
> 
> Glitzy Hollywood blockbuster: Mehta/LA Philharmonic (Decca)
> Barnburning, no-holds-bard: Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)
> ...


Speaking of Ormandy/Philadelphia, there's a live version from 1977 on YouTube (see below) that is my favourite video of _The Planets_. It's been released on DVD:

https://www.amazon.com/Holst-Planets-Debussy-Philadelphia-Orchestra/dp/B0012L2KC2


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