The Mystic Holst: What Is It?

The Planets, a seven-movement orchestral suite by English composer Gustav Holst, was composed between 1914 and 1917. It was premiered on March and April 1913, with the first movement being “Mars, the Bringer of War”. Holst’s first movement, “Neptune, the Mystic”, was angry and ominous, and his orchestral suite was an international phenomenon. The suite featured seven short tone poems, including “The Planets, Op. 32”, which was first performed in 1920 and became an instant success.

The suite was so popular during Holst’s lifetime that it earned him the title “rock-star”. The score incorporates two versions of the vocal score: Holst’s 2 piano version as accompaniment and pages 1-6. The final movement, “Neptune, the Mystic”, is perhaps the most celestial of all, with a mystical choir giving the music an other-worldly atmosphere.

One of Holst’s most neglected works is “The Mystic Trumpeter”, which features several influences, including Wagner. Neptune creates a vocabulary of space music that is still used today in movie scores, featuring delicate, sparse orchestration and quizzical chords. The piece signifies moments when the mortal self seems to fall away and one is face to face with the eternal spirit.

In conclusion, “Neptune: the Mystic” is a highly recommended piece due to its complex sounds and mysterious nature.

What did Gustav Holst suffer from?

Gustav Holst was an English composer and teacher born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He began learning the piano at a young age and began composing at the age of 12. Holst was influenced by Arthur Sullivan, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Grieg. His father discouraged him from composing, but he persevered due to his arm injury, asthma, and poor eye-sight. At 17, Holst became organist and choirmaster at Wyck Rissington, Gloucestershire, where he gained his first conducting experiences.

He studied at the Royal College of Music but did not receive a composition scholarship. During his time at RCM, Holst played the trombone professionally and became a dedicated Wagner fan, which influenced his music. In 1895, Holst met Ralph Vaughan Williams, who would become a lifelong friend and influential influence on his music. Holst secured a larger income by playing the trombone with various orchestras and continued to play for five years. In 1905, he took up teaching positions at James Allen’s Girls School in Dulwich, Passmore Edwards Settlement, and St Paul’s Girl’s School and Morley College.

Why is Neptune so special?

Neptune, an ice giant located over 30 times as far from the Sun as Earth, is the only planet in our solar system not visible to the naked eye. Discovered in 1846, it completed its first 165-year orbit in 2011. Neptune’s warm light is roughly 900 times brighter than our own. Johann Galle discovered Neptune in 1846, using predictions made by Urbain Le Verrier. The planet is named after the Roman god of the sea.

Who was the greatest astrologer of all time?

Astrology in India has its roots in the Vedic period, with the Vedanga Jyotisha being the only work of this class to have survived. It contains rules for tracking the motions of the sun and moon in a five-year intercalation cycle. The date of this work is uncertain, as its late style of language and composition conflict with some internal evidence of a much earlier date in the 2nd millennium BC. Indian astronomy and astrology developed together, with the earliest treatise on Jyotisha, the Bhrigu Samhita, compiled by the sage Bhrigu during the Vedic era.

The documented history of Jyotisha in the subsequent newer sense of modern horoscopic astrology is associated with the interaction of Indian and Hellenistic cultures through the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek Kingdoms. The oldest surviving treatises, such as the Yavanajataka or Brihat-Samhita, date to the early centuries AD. The Samhita (Compilation) is said to contain five million horoscopes, comprising all who have lived in the past or will live in the future. The first named authors writing treatises on astronomy are from the 5th century AD, the date when the classical period of Indian astronomy can be said to begin.

Why isn t Earth in the planets by Holst?

The Planets, a suite by Gustav Holst, does not include Earth and Pluto due to Holst’s disillusionment with the suite’s astrological significance. Pluto, discovered in 1930, was hailed as the ninth planet and was demoted to the new designation of dwarf planet in 2006. Holst expressed no interest in writing a movement for the new planet, believing it took too much attention away from his other works. In 1972, conductor Leonard Bernstein led the New York Philharmonic through a straight interpretation of the suite, discarded the Saturn movement, and performed “Pluto, the Unpredictable”.

In 1999, the Hallé Orchestra commissioned English composer Colin Matthews to write a new eighth movement, “Pluto, the Renewer”, dedicated to the late Imogen Holst, Gustav Holst’s daughter. The new movement was first performed in Manchester on 11 May 2000, with Kent Nagano conducting the Hallé Orchestra. Matthews speculated that Imogen Holst would have been both amused and dismayed by the venture.

Is Holst The Planets used in Star Wars?

John Williams’ Star Wars soundtrack was heavily influenced by Gustav Holst, a British composer known for his orchestral suite The Planets (1914-1916). Holst was one of the first composers to write music about outer space, and his dramatic flair has kept the work in the repertoire ever since its 1920 premiere. Holst studied composition at the Royal College of Music in London, but struggled to make a living as a composer. In 1903, he began teaching music in schools and continued to produce serious concert pieces.

In 1920, Holst earned national attention with The Hymn of Jesus, a work for choir and orchestra, and The Planets. The Hymn of Jesus established Holst as a mystic and spiritual composer, which is evident in the orchestral suite. Holst had been working on it since 1913, first writing the music for two pianos and producing the orchestral score only after the composition was complete.

Was Holst an astrologer?

Gustav Holst, a renowned astronomer, became deeply interested in astrology in 1912 while on holiday in Spain. He would cast horoscopes for his friends and would continue to do so throughout his life. The We the Curious Planetarium’s show, Holst’s Planets 3D, is based on a fascinating clash of ideas. The show features a pre-recorded performance of Holst’s seven-movement orchestral suite, along with specially created 3D visuals of the Solar System created by Planetarium Developer Anna Henley using the Planetarium’s Digistar 6 software. A member of the Planetarium Team controls the visuals in a live performance, allowing the planets, moons, and space probes to reflect the music in any way they see fit.

The show’s temporary closure allows the author to research the seemingly contradictory ideas that inspired it, potentially finding parallels between Holst’s beliefs and modern astronomy. The author is excited to share this fascinating story with the audience during their temporary closure.

Which planet is the mystic in Holst?

In Holst’s piano duet piece, “Neptune, the Mystic,” the composer initially employed an organ to represent the enigmatic planet, as he believed the piano was incapable of adequately conveying the desired musical expression.

What is special about Holst’s The Planets?

Holst’s concept of The Planet’s was based on astrology, with each movement aiming to convey the different personalities and emotions associated with the planets’ influence on the psyche. The piece was initially composed on the piano, using a piano in his sound-proofed room at St Paul’s Girls School and at home in Thaxted. The piece was scored by colleagues Vally Lasker and Nora Day, who acted as amanuenses due to Holst’s frequent neuritis pain in his right hand.

Holst marked instrumentation in red ink, and his amanuenses worked from this to produce the full orchestral score. The last movement, Neptune, was scored for a single organ, with an offstage choir of women’s voices. The piece was initially composed on the piano, but Holst’s colleagues’ help was necessary due to his frequent hand pain.

What is the most famous Holst piece?

Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer, arranger, and teacher, best known for his orchestral suite The Planets. His distinctive compositional style was influenced by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, as well as the English folksong revival of the early 20th century and the example of Maurice Ravel. Holst’s family had professional musicians, and he pursued a career as a composer, studying at the Royal College of Music under Charles Villiers Stanford.

He played the trombone professionally and later became a teacher, building a strong tradition of performance at Morley College and pioneering music education for women at St Paul’s Girls’ School. He was the founder of a series of Whitsun music festivals from 1916 until his death in 1934.

Holst’s works were played frequently in the early 20th century, but it wasn’t until The Planets’ international success after World War I that he became a well-known figure. A shy man, he preferred to be left in peace to compose and teach. His uncompromising, personal style of composition was considered austere, and his brief popularity declined. Despite this, Holst was an important influence on younger English composers, including Edmund Rubbra, Michael Tippett, and Benjamin Britten. His music was generally neglected until the 1980s, when recordings of much of his output became available.

Why is Neptune the mystic?

Holst’s Neptune, the mystic, is a hauntingly beautiful piece that symbolizes the moments when the mortal self seems to fall away and one is face to face with the eternal spirit. The movement’s bi-tonality, centered on oscillating chords in e minor and g-sharp minor, is a reflection of the mystic gaze and the nebulous stage that all must pass through. The title “Neptune the mystic” is a nod to Leo’s chapter on Mars, a new territory for Holst. The movement is characterized by its disembodied spirit of sound, with minimal themes and fragments of melody and harmony.

A double chorus of women’s voices enters on a high G, sustained through a dozen bars, and the singing continues without words. The voices are left alone to intone a cadence with ever diminishing tone until it is consumed in silence. This mysterious ending of the cycle that began with Mars is a testament to Holst’s mastery of the disembodied spirit of sound.

What does Saturn mean in Holst?

Holst’s piece, “Saturn”, reflects his personal life and aims to convey the feeling of getting old in music. The piece features alternating chords that sound like the ticking of a clock, with long notes depicting tired, dragging limbs. Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun and the second largest in the solar system, and was the Roman god of agriculture. It is a gas giant made mainly of hydrogen and helium, with an average radius about nine times that of Earth. It has at least 62 moons, with Titan being the largest.

Saturn is the only planet that would float in a pool of water, spinning once in a little more than 10 hours. Its appearance is pale yellow in a telescope, and its clouds are blown along by strong winds, driven by heat from inside the planet. The Cassini probe orbited Saturn 294 times between 2004 and 2017 and explored many of its moons. The Huygens lander parachuted onto the surface of Titan in 2005, making it the first soft landing on another planetary satellite.

In the classroom, students can explore the concept of getting old, such as how old their parents and grandparents will be, what aspects of life will become easier or harder as they age.