the mehallo blog. beta.

Gustav Holst (1874-1934) composed The Planets suite sometime between 1914 and 16. It’s become the ‘go to’ source for motion pictures ever since John Williams did some creative borrowing for Star Wars (1977).

Above, a very odd album cover for a 1978 recording of The Planets by Sir Adrian Boult. A remastered Boult recording can be found here.

And a 1976 moog/synthesizer version by Isao Tomita can be snagged here.

One of the most beautiful interpretations of The Planets is by John Eliot Gardiner, recorded in 1994. NPR review here. Album here. Track below:

Gustav Holst: Mars, The Bringer of War

some trivia
The Planets was also creatively borrowed for Cliff Eidelman’s haunting score used in Star Trek VI (1991). Paramount had tried to license the actual suite for the film, but the price was too high – so Eidelman crafted his own take.

Holst wrote different movements for each of the planets – but Pluto and Earth didn’t make it into the suite; since the themes were based on astrology/Roman gods instead of the actual planets. And Pluto wasn’t discovered until 1930.

Tho, as of 2006, Pluto is no longer a planet anyway.

tags: design, education, music // 2 comments  . . .