Gustav Holst - The Planets

[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!"



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!!! 

[starrynight]

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]

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.

[kishnevi]

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