MARS, THE BRINGER OF WAR from “The Planets” Op. 32.
Arranged for Two Pianos, performed by Steven Miller & Michael Morwood.
Composed by Gustav HOLST – English composer who resided in Brook Green, Hammersmith, London.
The reason I know this is because I performed at a Xmas concert for several years at a school in Brook Green neighbouring HOLST’s former residence! That’s some life-changing trivia you might need at Xmas when you dig out ‘Trivial Pursuit’ and ‘blow off the dust’, or ‘blow the dust off’? Both sound VERY wrong to me! LOL
I had to add sound FX at the start of the piece in an attempt to cover up a repetitive ‘clanking’ sound [metal chair legs being kicked?]. Fucking annoying whatever it is! I’ve also added a few visual FX
The Planets is a 7-mvt suite composed between 1914 and 1917.
Each mvt is named after a planet of the Solar System & its supposed astrological character. [I wonder why HOLST never included EARTH!]
PLUTO was discovered in 1930 and since 2006, is no longer classed as a planet having been downgraded to a ‘dwarf’ planet
Q. WHY has PLUTO been booted off our planet list?
A. The “International Astronomical Union” downgraded the status of PLUTO to that of a dwarf planet because it only meets 2 of the 3 criteria which define a full-sized planet. The criteria PLUTO never met — it “has not cleared its neighboring region of other objects”
NEPTUNE was discovered in 1846 and youranus in 1781.
Below is the order & title of each mvt. the last of which the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus
1 MARS, The Bringer of War
2 VENUS, The Bringer of Peace
3 MERCURY, The Winged Messenger
4 JUPITER, The Bringer of Jollity
5 SATURN, The Bringer of Old Age
6 URANUS, The Magician
7 NEPTUNE, The Mystic
The Planets had its origins in March and April 1913 when HOLST and his friend holidayed in Spain. A discussion about astrology piqued HOLST’s interest in the subject. Shortly after the holiday HOLST wrote to a friend: “I only study things that suggest music to me. Then recently the character of each planet suggested lots to me and I have been studying astrology fairly closely.” In 1926 HOLST told his friend:
“…whether it’s good or bad, grew in my mind slowly — like a baby in a woman’s womb. For two years I had the intention of composing that cycle during which it seemed of itself more and more definitely to be taking form”
HOLST described The Planets as “a series of mood pictures” acting as “foils to one another with very little contrast in any one of them”
In an early sketch HOLST listed MERCURY as Mvt. 1 suggesting his first idea was simply to depict the planets in the obvious order from nearest the Sun to the farthest. “However, opening with the more disturbing character of MARS allows a more dramatic and compelling working out of the musical material”
HOLST had a heavy workload as Head of Music at St Paul’s Girls’ School, Hammersmith, Director of Music at Morley College and had limited time for composing. His daughter, Imogen wrote: “Weekends and holidays were the only times when he could really get on with his own work, which is why it took him over 2 years to finish The Planets”
MARS was the 1st Mvt. to be composed in mid-1914
The first performance was on 15.11.1920 by the London Symphony Orch. conducted by Albert Coates. The first performance conducted by HOLST was on 13.10.1923 with the Queen’s Hall Orch.
In the 4th Mvt. HOLST portrays JUPITER’s supposedly characteristic “abundance of life and vitality” with music that is buoyant & exuberant. Nobility & generosity are allegedly characteristics of those born under JUPITER & in the slower middle section, HOLST provides a broad tune embodying those traits. In the view of Imogen Holst, it has been compromised by its later use as the melody for the solemn patriotic hymn “I VOW TO THEE, MY COUNTRY”
MARS is in a relentless 5/4 ostinato for most of its duration. It begins very quiet but ends with a dissonant climax, ffff [bloody loud]. Although MARS is often thought to portray the horrors of mechanised warfare, it was completed before the First World War started. MARS would have been “an experiment in rhythm and clashing keys” and its violence in performance “may have surprised him as much as it galvanised its first audiences. Harmonic dissonances abound, often resulting from clashes between moving chords and static pedal-points” which he compares to a similar effect at the end of Stravinsky’s Firebird. Although ‘battle music’ had been written before [eg Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben] “it had never expressed such violence and sheer terror”
The dissonant chords at the end are difficult to play in synch. I think there are 3 ‘screw-ups’ when we’re not completely together
Q Which film does this remind you of?
Type answers in comment section
0:00 – 0:43 Enter
0:43 – 2:13 START
2:13 – 3:08 Ostinato 8ves
3:08 – 4:13 Bridge
4:13 – 5:15 Ominous/build-up
5:15 – 7:46 Climatic recap
7:46 – 8:13 Dissonant chords/END
8:13 – 8:38 Bows/applause
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