Non-Planets Holst

[cilgwyn]

This really brings back memories. The first Lp I ever actually owned!! I  found the original Lp (not pictured here) at my eighty five year old father's house,in one of the record cases upstairs. My late mother was the other music lover,besides me. All I need is a record player!! How I must have loved this Lp cover when I was a youngster;although,I remember my mother telling me how I had moaned to her about Blue Peter (RIP John Noakes!) being replaced by a Moon landing!! I also collected all the PG Tip stamps in their space exploration series;sticking them carefully in my PG Tips book. According to PG Tips there has already been a manned expedition to Mars (c 1980's,I think?) and there's already,a fully functioning moonbase! Oh well,you can't get everything right! I also seem to remember reading that one of the PG Tip chimps died,not so long ago;so RIP to him,too. The way of all flesh!!



Luckily I have the cd,now!



An absolutely magnificent performance. I can hear (listening now) exactly why it's so highly rated. The cd includes some superb extras. Beni Mora is a favourite of mine,and so is,the once,quite popular,Perfect Fool ballet music. The Radio 3 recording of the opera I downloaded at the AMF (Art Music Forum) and,incidentally,available complete at Youtube,reveals a quite entertaining opera,which really should be released on a cd. It really is quite fascinating to hear the ballet music in it's original context;and,even if the libretto is nothing to write home about,Holst's score is full of colour. Did Richard Itter ever record it,I wonder?!! They could release the Radio 3 recording and,in one fell swoop,fill in a big gap in the Holst discography! (Times like this I wish I had a recording label! ).

[aligreto]

A very nice post, sir 

[cilgwyn]

It would be nice if I hadn't just noticed the title of the post!!

This really brings back memories. The first Lp I ever actually owned!! I  found the original Lp (not pictured here) at my eighty five year old father's house,in one of the record cases upstairs. My late mother was the other music lover,besides me. All I need is a record player!! How I must have loved this Lp cover when I was a youngster;although,I remember my mother telling me how I had moaned to her about Blue Peter (RIP John Noakes!) being replaced by a Moon landing!! I also collected all the PG Tip stamps in their space exploration series;sticking them carefully in my PG Tips book. According to PG Tips there has already been a manned expedition to Mars (c 1980's,I think?) and there's already,a fully functioning moonbase! Oh well,you can't get everything right! I also seem to remember reading that one of the PG Tip chimps died,not so long ago;so RIP to him,too. The way of all flesh!!



Luckily I have the cd,now!



An absolutely magnificent performance. I can hear (listening now) exactly why it's so highly rated. The cd includes some superb extras. Beni Mora is a favourite of mine,and so is,the once,quite popular,Perfect Fool ballet music. The Radio 3 recording of the opera I downloaded at the AMF (Art Music Forum) and,incidentally,available complete at Youtube,reveals a quite entertaining opera,which really should be released on a cd. It really is quite fascinating to hear the ballet music in it's original context;and,even if the libretto is nothing to write home about,Holst's score is full of colour. Did Richard Itter ever record it,I wonder?!! They could release the Radio 3 recording and,in one fell swoop,fill in a big gap in the Holst discography! (Times like this I wish I had a recording label! ).

[cilgwyn]

I will listen to some 'Non Planets Holst',next!

[vandermolen]

No need to worry about the title cigwyn. Your post is indeed very interesting. The Apollo 'Planets' LP was a nostalgia trip for me too. I also remember the Decca Eclipse Stonehenge image too with affection (they used National Trust scenes with Cumbria in the snow, for example, having to stand in for the Antarctic for the front cover of Boult's LPO recording of Vaughan Williams's 7th Symphony. That CFP Sargent disc of Beni Mora is one of the great Non-Planets Holst discs. I recall a wonderful use of the Perfect Fool ballet music used in a TV documentary about the surrealist painter Rene Magritte made by a student at film school which I saw decades ago. If it's on you tube I'll try and post a link.
Here it is - a magical film. All three parts can be found on You Tube.
Only lasts about half an hour in total. Well worth watching and great use of The Perfect Fool ballet music:
https://youtu.be/NbIIAzwamNw

[cilgwyn]

Thank you for drawing my attention to this. I think I will make a DVD-R,when I have some more. It's a bit uncomfortable watching on the pc,unfortunately. I do like Magritte,though. Much better than the overrated show off,Dali. Although,he's definitely better than the stuff that passes for art,these days! Which reminds me. I need to plump up the pillows!!

I was just wondering,last night. What are your (current) favourite recordings of The Planets,vandermolen. If you don't mind me asking on a non Planets thread?! I know you like te BBCSO Sargent and Herrmann.

[aligreto]

It would be nice if I hadn't just noticed the title of the post!!

I did wonder but no matter 

I went through a Non Planets phase relatively recently myself. Whenever your current purchasing embargo does end I can thoroughly recommend this set for non Planets works if you do not already own it....


   

[vandermolen]

Thank you for drawing my attention to this. I think I will make a DVD-R,when I have some more. It's a bit uncomfortable watching on the pc,unfortunately. I do like Magritte,though. Much better than the overrated show off,Dali. Although,he's definitely better than the stuff that passes for art,these days! Which reminds me. I need to plump up the pillows!!

I was just wondering,last night. What are your (current) favourite recordings of The Planets,vandermolen. If you don't mind me asking on a non Planets thread?! I know you like te BBCSO Sargent and Herrmann.

Well, I like the Boult 1944 recording and his later versions and that fine William Steinberg version which I have coupled with some '2001 A Space Odyssey' themed works.

[cilgwyn]

I think I 've got the 1944 recording on a cd-r. I will have a look,later. I also like Holst's acoustic recording,which I have on a Pearl cd. It sounds a bit wierd enjoying something recorded through a horn,but I think the performance has allot of atmosphere;if you can ignore the deficiencies of the recording 'process used. Holst's recording of Beni Mora,sounds suitably ominous. I only wish he could have recorded more!! I even enjoy his electrical recording. I think it's better than some people make it out to be. The cramped acoustic actually lends an opressive,sinister quality,at times. Anyway,it's the Master himself!! The only other recording I have is of the last recording by Boult. I did have the one he made in the sixties;but not anymore!
I'll confess here,that I was actually tempted to buy the Maazel recording because it was coupled with music from Star Wars!! I'm afraid I'm not a fan of the films. It's Fifties Sci-fi mainly,for me;but I do quite like the music!!

[cilgwyn]

I did wonder but no matter 

I went through a Non Planets phase relatively recently myself. Whenever your current purchasing embargo does end I can thoroughly recommend this set for non Planets works if you do not already own it....

Thank,aligreto;but I've got all those!! I bought a load on a Holst binge,a while back. I kept trying to stop,but I just kept buying more!!   In fact,I've got a pile of non Holst cd's piled up on the cassette deck downstairs. (Hopefully,I won't be trying to play them on it!! )

[aligreto]

Thank,aligreto;but I've got all those!! I bought a load on a Holst binge,a while back. I kept trying to stop,but I just kept buying more!!   In fact,I've got a pile of non Holst cd's piled up on the cassette deck downstairs. (Hopefully,I won't be trying to play them on it!! )

That is great to read. Obviously there is a lot more to Holst than the Planets 

[vandermolen]

I think I 've got the 1944 recording on a cd-r. I will have a look,later. I also like Holst's acoustic recording,which I have on a Pearl cd. It sounds a bit wierd enjoying something recorded through a horn,but I think the performance has allot of atmosphere;if you can ignore the deficiencies of the recording 'process used. Holst's recording of Beni Mora,sounds suitably ominous. I only wish he could have recorded more!! I even enjoy his electrical recording. I think it's better than some people make it out to be. The cramped acoustic actually lends an opressive,sinister quality,at times. Anyway,it's the Master himself!! The only other recording I have is of the last recording by Boult. I did have the one he made in the sixties;but not anymore!
I'll confess here,that I was actually tempted to buy the Maazel recording because it was coupled with music from Star Wars!! I'm afraid I'm not a fan of the films. It's Fifties Sci-fi mainly,for me;but I do quite like the music!!

I have that Star Wars CD coupled with some Holst. Oops...I mean the other way round. Yes, I too think Holst's recording of the Planets and the great Beni Mora is much better than usually credited. I wish that VW had recorded more of his music too. He was not rated as a good conductor but the few surviving recordings suggest otherwise.

[cilgwyn]

I'm actually listening to the Pearl cd,now. I actually think that the primitive technology has the strange effect of making it more ominous. Quite creepy with the lights off......and (gulp!) I don't think I'll try it!! I even like his electrical recording;but I can see (I mean hear) that his earlier recording is superior. (I always play it first....and more often). The apparently cramped studio conditions of the electrical recording do lend a certain atmosphere to Saturn and Uranus,imho. Although,it may be entirely a matter of my own overripe imagination?!! I do remember my excitement when I first found out that Holst had actually recorded The Planets. And,before that,being gobsmacked that Elgar was amongst the first major recording 'artistes' (albeit,not by any means the first) and certainly,the first composer to record such large swathes of his own output. If only more composers had liked 'gadgets' as much as he did!! Of course,by the time Holst reluctantly recorded his,there was apparently little interest,at least in this country,in recording contemporary concert music (or so I gather?) so,even if Holst had enjoyed the experience,he might not have had any more opportunites to record more of his music.....if any?!! Frank Bridge managed to record The Sea too,didn't he? I'd be astounded if you hadn't heard that! Other than that,it's all mainly bits and bobs!! I think I've got most of what's available on cd;being keen on collecting early acoustic and electrical recordings of orchestral works (and some other stuff!).

[cilgwyn]

Interesting,listening to Holst's 1926 electrical recording of The Planets. Emi have coupled the recording with Elgar's 1926 recording of his Enigma Variations. The contrast between the clarity of the recordings is strikingly obvious. Holst's recording sounds boxy and muffled by comparison;yet,once your ears adjust,perfectly listenable. Holst's acoustic recording is so much clearer. One of those rare examples of an acoustic recording of an orchestral recording that is actually better than the electrical remake!! Stokowski's 1925 Dvorak Ninth is another example!! As to the performance itself. Holst's conducting is brisk;but,contrary to received opinion,I actually enjoyed the performance,and again,in some ways,the cramped acoustic seemed to add an ominous atmosphere,a feeling of menace to some  parts of the score,particularly,Saturn and Uranus,which I actually did like. Of course,if I bought a new recording that sounded like that I'd want my money back ......but,yes,I think this recording is,if you accept it's shortcomings;is actually a tad better than some critics make out!  What a pity he wasn't able to record some more!!

The Elgar is placed first on this cd. Here's the pretty cover!!

[cilgwyn]

I'm listening to this now. I actually prefer the performances on this cd to the ones on the Chandos label. It also includes King Estmere,which I rather like. More attractive atwork too,imho. The Chandos cd does include another rarity,The Lure.

[Karl Henning]

It would be nice if I hadn't just noticed the title of the post!!

Do not reproach thyself!  I have enjoyed (belatedly) your Holst-athon.

[Karl Henning]

[...] I do like Magritte,though. Much better than the overrated show off,Dali.

Dalí was (like Picasso) a superb self-promoter.  They were both gifted artists, of course;  but there may have been arguably better artists who were not energetic enough in pushing themselves.

That seems, in may ways, to be the central story of the Arts in the 20^th century and after.

[Karl Henning]

I did wonder but no matter 

I went through a Non Planets phase relatively recently myself. Whenever your current purchasing embargo does end I can thoroughly recommend this set for non Planets works if you do not already own it....

   

As tempting as that is (in a faute de mieux way), I cannot help feeling that a Holst Edition ought to be a good deal more than 6 CDs.

[aligreto]

As tempting as that is (in a faute de mieux way), I cannot help feeling that a Holst Edition ought to be a good deal more than 6 CDs.

I would not disagree but still, truncated as it is, it is a very good introduction to the composer's oeuvre for those who only know The Planets.

[cilgwyn]

And if it's in one of this slimline boxes,which is usually the case these days,take up far less room. Too late for me,though. The leaning tower of Holst cd's rules here,okay!!