2009 is the International Year of Astronomy. I didn't know that when we booked to hear Holst's The Planets in Birmingham (another trip to hear the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) but the coincidence is pleasing.
What a piece. It is so well known, through the popularity of Mars and Jupiter, that hearing it live has never seemed necessary in 46 years of going to concerts. Thinking about it, I don't think I've often been aware of it being performed live. Now I know why.
It is written for a huge orchestra and must cost the earth to stage. It has instruments I have never seen on stage together before : bass clarinet, bass oboe, contrabassoon, cor anglais, tuba, euphonium, two harps, alto flute, 7 kettle drums, celesta. I counted 116 players altogether, not to mention the 60 or so female voices who sing only in the last piece, Neptune. I suppose Mahler would be a comparison for sheer size but the Holst is exciting and subtle at the same time. The noise, and length, are not quite so overpowering.
The colouring of the sound is fascinating - the way the unusual instruments are combined and can be heard clearly in solos or small groups. Like the 4 flutes at the beginning of the last movement, Neptune the Mystic, when the alto flute helps set the etherial, eerie tone that is perfected by the offstage voices which bring the work to a close.
Gustavus von Holst, the grandson of a Russian emigre with Swedish ancestry who came to England via Germany; whose father, Adolphus, settled in Cheltenham to teach music; producing a Suite that everyone regards as typically English. It struck me as so unlikely. One of those stories that makes you see things in a new light and listen afresh.
YouTube has the whole work at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6NopU9K_8M , starting with Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity. Use headphones. It is fantastic.
The fact that one of the movements was employed in the Hymn: 'I vow to Thee My Country'-which in-turn was a feature of Princess Diana's funeral (it was one of her personal favourites)Seems to have very firmly stamped it as being 'English'-it is a huge work-but where are the guitar solo's?
ReplyDeleteA guitar soloist would sound a bit swamped. But 116 of them, now there's a thought!
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