Gustav Holst - The Planets

Started by Lethevich, August 27, 2007, 11:15:53 AM

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Do you consider Host's "The Planets" a masterpiece?

Yes
41 (70.7%)
No
11 (19%)
Unsure
6 (10.3%)

Total Members Voted: 41

mszczuj

Yes, it is very nice, I love it, but it is to superficial to be a masterpiece. Something like The Music for the Royal Fireworks. I voted NO.

starrynight

I'm sure it's far more varied than Music for the Royal Fireworks.  There's a whole multitude of feelings in this piece.  It's a shame that it seemed to develop a reputation as an orchestral or sonic showpiece.

Cato

Okay, so...

Every year I play The Planets for my 7th Grade Latin class as part of an introduction to basic Greco-Roman mythology.  I make it a guessing game: Which god/goddess is the music describing?

Yesterday Saturn was played.  I explained the reference to the Dies Irae and, despite the funereal aspect of the section, the students seemed to enjoy the music.

Later I asked one of the eccentric yet very intelligent boys whether or not he had liked the music.

(I am not making this up!   ;)   )

"Yeah, it was pretty good!  It sounded like surfing music!"

??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? :o :o :o :o :o :o :o ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

I: "Surfing music?!  You mean...like the old rock group, the Beach Boys?"

He: "Yeah, kind of like them."

So I could come up with only two solutions: either his eccentric nature somehow distorted Saturn into "surfing music," or buried somewhere in the oeuvre of the Beach Boys is in fact a surfing Requiem...and this kid has heard it!!!  8)
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

starrynight

#63
I suppose 'Til I Die is a Beach Boys song about mortality, not saying it's really that comparable with Holst's music.  Decent song though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46IQu0yuJzU

An unofficial mix of it might sound even better, highlights the vocal parts and the vibraphone more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oj0dLkiziY

Cato

Quote from: starrynight on September 27, 2017, 03:15:28 PM
I suppose 'Til I Die is a Beach Boys song about mortality, not saying it's really that comparable with Holst's music.  Decent song though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46IQu0yuJzU

An unofficial mix of it might sound even better, highlights the vocal parts and the vibraphone more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oj0dLkiziY

Thanks for the information!  Actually, given the boy's "eccentric" nature, he probably does not understand what "surfing music" is, despite his claim to the contrary. ;)
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

kishnevi

Quote from: Cato on September 27, 2017, 04:01:21 PM
Thanks for the information!  Actually, given the boy's "eccentric" nature, he probably does not understand what "surfing music" is, despite his claim to the contrary. ;)

Maybe he is thinking of surfing the web?

My connection to surfing culture is less than minimal, but I assume current* day surfers listen to contemporary rock, rap, and metal, and that's what he was thinking of.

*Pun not intended