Gustav Holst: Beyond the Planets
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 มิ.ย. 2021
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📚 Sources/further reading:
“Gustav Holst: The Man and his Music” by Michael Short (Circaidy Gregory Press, 2014)
“Sacred Sound at the Symphony: A Conductor’s Guide to Faith Traditions in Choral-Orchestral Repertoire” by Robert Bott (PhD dissertation, University of North Texas, 2020): digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/...
“An Analysis of Gustav Holst’s ‘The Planets’” by Kanokrut Leelasiri (MA thesis, Cal State Northridge, 2001): scholarworks.csun.edu/bitstrea...
“A Study of Orchestration Techniques for the Wind Ensemble/Wind Band as Demonstrated in Seminal Works” by Chris Sharp (PhD dissertation, University of Florida, 2011): etd.fcla.edu/UF/UFE0042544/sha...
“Violin and Voice as Partners in Three Early Twentieth-Century English Works for Voice and Violin” by John Paul Rutland (PhD dissertation, University of North Texas, 2005): digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/...
“Modal Prolongational Structure in Selected Sacred Choral Compositions by Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams” by Timothy Paul Francis (PhD dissertation, University of Oregon, 2012): scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlu...
ttp://www.gustavholst.info/journal/article-001.php?chapter=1
doublebassing.wordpress.com/2...
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Classical Nerd is a video series covering music history, theoretical concepts, and techniques, hosted by composer, pianist, and music history aficionado Thomas Little.
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Music:
- Gustav Holst: First Suite for Military Band, performed by the United States Marine Band conducted by Frederick Fennell and available on IMSLP: tinyurl.com/6cuphbyb
- Thomas Little: Dance! #2 in E minor, performed by Rachel Fellows, Michael King, and Bruce Tippette
- Gustav Holst: “Hymn to the Waters” from Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, Group 3, performed by the North Central College Women’s Chorale and the DuPage Symphony Orchestra conducted by Barbara Schubert and available on IMSLP: tinyurl.com/ybtjde5d
- Giovanni Palestrina: Sicut Cervus, performed by Cantores Carmeli Linz conducted by Michael Stenov and available on IMSLP: tinyurl.com/ub5hhbss
- Gustav Holst: The Planets, performed by the National Youth Orchestra of Canada conducted by (probably) Alain Trudel and available on IMSLP: tinyurl.com/d7jy48we
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Contact Information:
Questions and comments can be directed to:
nerdofclassical [at] gmail.com
Facebook:
/ classicalnerd
Instagram:
/ the_classical_nerd
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All images and audio in this video are for educational purposes only and are not intended as copyright infringement. If you have a copyright concern, please contact me using the above information.
Holst's vocal compositions are incredible and criminally underappreciated. Works, "Hymn of Jesus", "Ode to Death" etc showcase the best of Holst.
Those works are beautiful, especially "Ode to Death" that was probably composed as a response to all his friends that were killed in action during World War I.
Holst is sooo underrated. Thanks for this man
why do you say that?
@@Philrc he should have been recognized as much as Bach or Beethoven etc...
he's pretty big in the band world
@@Aaron-rh7sz ??
@@the_kinslayer nonsense
Sometimes it takes a 'Nerd' to show a real passion for their subject. Sometimes the 'Nerd' is the most interesting person in the community. Hats off to you for this fascinating and original channel. And Thank you!
First Suite and Eb and Second Suite in F are now considered seminal works for Wind Band. I have performed them several times and love them both!
I wish that you had taught music history in my music program. The music history professors were dry as dust. We used to joke that the horrible Grout music history book (before others vastly expanded and improved it) plus a single lecture from one of the MH faculty was the ultimate cure all for insomnia! Keep up the excellent work of showing that MH is actually a fascinating topic for everyone and mot just musicians.🎵
Brilliant and congratulations - you've got Holst perfectly and there is certainly much more to him than you know what and his sort of pre-minimalist, 'In the Street of the Ouled Nails' is quite extraordinary. He wanted to 'reform' harmony but never quite found a way that appealed to him. (I met Imogen a couple of times - just wanted to say so.)
Holst's Duet for Trombone and Organ is a favorite of mine. One of my favorite pieces in the trombone repertoire!!!
Thank you for this excellent survey of Holst's career. Like many others, I first came to his music as a teenager by playing in his two suites for military band. I went on to explore his remarkably diverse other works, few of which had been recorded when I started in the 1960s. It is interesting how influential--but unacknowledged-- Holst has been from film music to chamber opera. There are so many fine pieces beyond "The Planets" and the two band suites, not the least of which is the opera "Savitri," a prophetic work in many ways. I was pleased that you mention it. I am also deeply moved by his strange and haunting "Choral Fantasia." As you say, Holst was a vastly innovative composers but in different ways than the critics usually celebrate.
Bravo.
As a wind band kid I love his suites, and I've found other pieces through youtube recommendations
SO looking forward to the West Michigan Symphony this weekend, featuring Holst!!
14:30 "he declined the fellowship too nicely, so they gave it to him anyway". If that isn't the most english thing I've ever heard...
I find Beni Mora to be nearly as indelible as The Planets and yet is has almost no existence in the public consciousness. Perhaps it is too exotic for audiences. An astonishing work.
It’s not that easy to play. I’ve got the score and what sounds straightforward is not quite as it sounds. It is a rather open score and any small mistake is cruelly exposed. A wrong entry or poor tuning sticks out a mile.
Let's not forget "In the Bleak Midwinter".
It's my favourite carol and I never knew that he wrote it! Thanks!
There are two equally popular, competing settings of Christina Rossetti's poem: Holst's and Harold Darke's (the latter of which I prefer). You'll have to listen to both of them to figure out which setting is your favorite!
As a Holst aficionado, thanks for this talk! Great work as always.
I kinda admire Holst's stubbornness in just writing what he enjoyed and not really caring about anyone's reaction (although this wasn't always the case - apparently after the public's cold reaction to Egdon Heath he downed some whisky which was incredibly unusual seeing as he didn't drink alcohol)
Plus I'm obsessed by just how niche At the Boar's Head is. It might not be his best work but the "fight scenes" toward the end have a few hints of the Terzetto in them, the second movement of the Terzetto specifically.
One of my FAVORITE composers!! He didn't write much, compared to other composers, but it didn't matter, cause everything he got published are masterpieces ❣️
I love your content especially the Longer videos! I can’t get enough of these biographies. I also watch them for inspiration! Your videos are getting better and better too! Thank you for making TH-cam a way better place!
He’s one of my favorite composers! I’m so glad that you’ve touched upon his synthesis of wind ensemble music. I remember some fond memories of playing his suites in college. I wish more people would talk more about them and I’m glad that you’ve gone over his other pieces as well. What a great video! Bravo! 😊
I've been waiting for this moment for some time. Thank you and thank you!
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I've been super interested in his life, but the conservatory library has almost no books on him. You're the best!
Wow! Before I watched this, I've only heard of The Planets and some string orchestral pieces. Amazing Video!
As a wind band enthusiast, Holst holds a special place in my Heart for his 1st and 2nd Suites for Military Band.
I have always loved Holst since playing the trombone 1 part in the planets in high school. Some really exciting and beautiful music. I particularly enjoy Z. Randall Stroope’s choral arrangement “Homeland” from Jupiter. Thanks for this engaging presentation, I have learned a bunch from you the last few years as I have finished my undergrad in vocal performance. I don’t think performing is in the cards for me professionally but I’m grateful I was able to get an education that allows me to more fully appreciate the greatness of these men women and theys featured on your channel.
I love his choral music. Evening watch.
You are amazing! Thank you for the work you do! Bravo!
Thank you so much for this fascinating video. I knew very little about Holst before watching this. I only knew The Planets.
Been looking forward to this one
Same! Shame on the TH-cam algorithm which didnt even update me on this upload
I always thought there must be much more to Holst. Thank you so much for this. . .
What a brilliant channel! Thank you
A fabulous portrait of a really interesting composer. Well done Thomas.
Yes, the two band suites are wonderful. But I would argue that “Hammersmith: Prelude and Scherzo” goes beyond those two earlier works, straight into profound masterpiece territory.
I didn't have time to touch on that work in the video, but yes! I recall, when I was still in high school, picking up _Hammersmith_ in the middle on a classical music radio station and being delighted, and I hadn't the faintest idea of who the composer was until it was announced at the end. It was my first foray into non-Planets Holst.
Great video! Thanks Thomas!
I’ve heard of many Holst pieces via CDs on EMI and Eloquence and it was great to hear how those works slot into his biography. Also, his egalitarianism makes me more eager to play his folk tune toccata and do something for someone who sounds like a decent guy.
Thank you, Thomas. YIPEEEE! New video! 🌹🌹🌹🔥
At 43:30 you have given me the most valuable reference for 5:4 and 7:4 meter that I have ever heard!!! As a Eastern Orthodox church choir director and composer writing new music for ancient texts translated from Greek or Slavonic into English, those ratios are everywhere! You just can’t “cram it all in a 4:4 bar”! Ironically much of the traditional music reverse translated is often so unnatural when a well meaning copyist tries to avoid 5 & 7 beats because the choir gets grumpy when they see mixed time signatures! Often I get the question, “where is the down beat?”. My usual answer is that I don’t really know, but let the natural pulse of spoken English show you where to stress the syllables. The text defines the pulse, not the time signature. It’s also helpful to just write the melodic phrases with no time signature with just an interpretive instruction like, solemn; it then forces them to actually look at the conductor!
Loving this video even more now.
I’m currently working on an arrangement of The Planets for a rock band ensemble (inspired by Emerson Lake and Palmer’s version of “Pictures at an Exhibition”) and your assessment of the planets functioning somewhat like 2 symphonies, with Jupiter in elision, is very accurate, and essentially how I’ve envisioned performing it as I work through the arranging; complete 1-4, perform that, finish 5-7, perform the second half. Record the full suite and perform that on tours around the world (as one does).
Incidentally, I am using the 2 piano version and orchestrating from there, not from the full symphony score.
Very very fine. Thank you.
Love Holst, his hymn tunes are some of the best in the entire genre. (Particularly Cranham, which aside from Vaughan Williams' arrangement of Kingsfold is probably the best one out there.) I've wanted to get into his non-Planets music for a while now but never quite had a strong enough impulse or knowledge of how to navigate it, so this video's a very welcome find.
Excellent work! Now I await Delius with anticipation.
Yes! Delius is so overlooked, at least in my experience. He wrote wonderful pieces for the cello which none of my cello friends and colleagues have ever heard of. Delius deserves to be better known than as only being worth a paragraph or two in a music textbook.
Thank you Thomas!
I never thought I'd be interested in "modern" music; i have been a Bach-guy since childhood... I am 44 years old now, and yeah...
Saturn
Could we get a David Tudor episode? Would love to learn more about him as both a composer and performer.
Duly noted.
Could u do a video on this 'land without music' phenomenon? Cis Henry Purcell and Vaughan Williams are the only composers ppl tend to know names of. And Delius to a small extent.
The wind suites are wonderful. Made famous to those of us of a certain age by their inclusion on the striking first-released North American digital recording in 1978! :-)
Fantastic! I'd love to see another Great Performers Video, if possible. Perhaps William "Bill" Bell? He's quite the legend, played tuba in the NY Phil under Toscanini!
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
0:15
Hey Thomas, thanks for featuring me!
Probably a magnanimous composer and Holst Planets is a great accomplishment😂
I was never that familiar with Holst, so thank you for educating us!
Thanks for another great video Thomas! I have long been a Holst fan for The Planets and the Suites for Wind Band that were some of my first pieces that I took part in when I started my musical journey. My family has roots in Southport but I have been unable to find sources about the Carl Rosa Opera Company there, the only things I can find are about London and Liverpool (close to Southport but not quite there!) Do you happen to have a source for this information so that I might find out more about it please? Many thanks in advance.
All of my sources (for the past few years, at least) have been in the video descriptions. In this case, the information about the Carl Rosa company was from Michael Short's book on Holst. There's a little more information in there than what made it into this video, but not a whole ton.
@@ClassicalNerd Thanks a lot Thomas! Can't wait for the next one!
Bravo.
❤️❤️❤️... Simple great!!!
Thanks a lot for what you doing, checked the composer waiting list and want to submit my vote: Penderecki, Berio and hovhaness
You already requested Penderecki. The others have been duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
@@ClassicalNerd oh my bad didn't want to cheat:)🙏🏼
th-cam.com/video/GKWiuk7i4Ow/w-d-xo.html
@@ClassicalNerd thanks, I ringed the bell so I'll never miss your videos
A fantastic lecture ..................as always. I know Pete Long who did a jazz version of The Planets, you should check out. Let me know if you need info.
Bantock. Tournemeire. Steinberg. Gottshalk. So many....
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
Love his suit “The Planets”, wish he included a movement for Earth too. Having one for Pluto and wondering what it would sound like also intrigues me. I know Pluto wasn’t discovered yet when he was writing the suite, but still one can dream!
On the one hand, there's a custom piece by French composer Clément Mepas for the non-astrologically observed Earth called "Earth: The Bringer of Life." In 1972 Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic improvised on a piece called "Pluto: The Unpredictable." 28 years later, Colin Matthews wrote "Pluto: The Renewer" to line up with the astrology of Pluto: renewal through any means necessary.
th-cam.com/video/MbHQ6eWANIo/w-d-xo.html (Earth)
th-cam.com/video/R7xlK5d7Kig/w-d-xo.html (Unpredictable)
th-cam.com/video/s5p3ZTAxgms/w-d-xo.html (Renewer)
Hey, I was wondering if you could make a video on Sergei Bortkiewicz? Interesting life and of course amazing music that unfortunately hasn't stood the test of time very well but I truly believe his music is close to the greats.
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
@@ClassicalNerd Is the number next to the name the number of times its been requested? Thanks!
@@benthepen3336 Yes, and you can hover over the names to see the screen names of the requesters. :)
Very interesting! I would love to see a Puccini or Johann Strauss II as well.
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html - and as a patron, your votes are counted twice! Thank you for supporting the channel.
He was so nearsighted that he couldn't even recognize friends. 😂😂 That's me.
Is the big theme of Jupiter/ aka I vow to thee being played at an illegally subliminal level. So much so I wondered if I was hearing it and it took me 3 minutes to remember it was Holst
Could you do a video on Arthur Sullivan?
Duly noted.
will you ever make a video about Krzysztof Penderecki?
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
2:48 imagine being able to go to college for ONLY $16,000. Could never happen nowadays
You should do a history of William Albright!!
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
Has Fantasies been recorded ?
You should do a vídeo on Ornette Coleman and other on Nancarrow
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
I would like to vote for Max Reger in the request pool please. Thank you
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
Not sure if you have a video on him yet, but can you do one on Benjamin Britton?
Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
@@ClassicalNerd Thanks!
good video
(lmao im so late but i digress)
better nate than lever, as they say
I need to know what the Keats piece is called
Choral Symphony
@@ClassicalNerd thanks!
32:55 Gustav Holst must have been the Doom Slayer of music or something.
Please do a video on Bunita Marcus. You talked on Morton Feldman's video about the importance of check her out. She deserves her own video!
Also could you do a video about Alexander von Zemlinsky?
Also Domenico Scarlatti
Unfortunately, I don't really get to cover living composers because composers' careers so often run until the ends of their lives. Zemlinsky and Scarlatti have been duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
hey, how about Ernesto Lecuona the cuban composer. or manuel m Ponce, mexican composer, or heitor villalobos, or isaac albeniz. theres a couple of ideas :)
I've done Villa-Lobos in the past. The others have been duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html
@@ClassicalNerd dont forget Sigismund Thalberg!! ;)
@@ClassicalNerd thanks, i checked the villa lobos. very nice
maybe it would be nice to talk a bit about their technique, speaking of anton rubinstein. it seems you didnt do him honors as the towering legend he was
@@firepyro66 Thalberg and
dude you had me sold on your musicological and music history prowess until the John Williams comment. Film Composers are very much treated like Employees and aren't given freedom that none film composers enjoy. with this in mind, I'm sure George Lucas said to john Williams... "I REALLY want something that sounds like "THIS". so John in order to get paid pulled out a pencil and got to work. you can't hate on the man for taking care of his family.
I'm not "hating on" John Williams-I love his music. That said, I stand by everything I say in this video.
Good work; good series: thanks.