The Planets: Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age - by Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 มี.ค. 2012
- (for best sound quality, choose 480p in the 'quality settings')
This is a powerful, but underrated performance of The Planets from a stalwart of British music, Sir Charles Groves, conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I have many versions of The Planets, including the much lauded interpretation from Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. However, I keep going back to this version. It feels, well, like Holst :-)
I could wax lyrical about the power of these seven mini tone poems, but I shall let a far more eloquent writer speak. The following is taken from the CD notes of a special Penguin Classics release of 'The Planets', performed by Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. The essay was written by Karen Armstrong, author of 'A History of God', 'Through the Narrow Gate' and 'A History of Jerusalem'....
"On 20 July 1969, glued to my television set, I watched the historic moon-landing with awe and a certain disquiet. As my namesake, Neil Armstrong, made that "great leap for mankind", I marvelled at the technology that had got him there but also wondered what this would do for human consciousness. The moon, symbol of love, transience and rebirth, was now revealed as a dull, sterile place. While the astronauts loped and gambolled on its dusty surface, I reflected uneasily that we had just turned mythology into fact and found the reality to be banal. Would we be permanently impoverished?
But the moon-landing also reflected my own recent experience of a world turned upside down. Only a few months earlier, I had left the religious order where I had lived as a nun for seven years. The world outside the convent walls seemed as alien and spiritually barren to me as the moon. I was already beginning a painful journey away from the religion I had grown up with and feared that I would not easily survive in a world drained of mystery and transcendence.
It was about this time, however, that I first heard The Planets and it helped put me on the road to a new spirituality. Freed from the restrictions of convent life, I was beginning in 1969 to discover music and to find that it could give me those transcendent moments I had sought in vain in conventional religion. But, a student of literature and in love with words, I sometimes found it difficult to respond to this non-verbal art form, which, like the higher forms of spirituality, goes beyond images and ideas. The Planets helped me to make that transition by providing me with a "musical plot", which, at that early stage of my musical education, I sorely needed.
I found that reaching out imaginatively to the cosmos, Holst had somehow retraced the archetypal religious quest. We begin with the slightly self-important, combative melodies of Mars, with an ego fighting to assert itself, before proceeding to the peace of Venus, where the occasional discords remind us that serenity is only a precarious achievement on this planet. Next we encounter the more playful moods of Mercury and Jupiter which are only possible -- like the best religion -- when we have left the self behind. In Saturn and Uranus, Holst makes us confront mortality and the uncanny, before he finishes with the mystic Neptune, where the music hints at a realm beyond form and melody -- the dark world of "uncreated reality".
And through it all, meanwhile, Holst's music restores for me that feeling of wonder and emotional connection that the cosmos has always inspired in men and women. It is still possible after all to sense a deep involvement for the stars and planets in our own earthbound destiny -- a mystery that seems not to have vanished, as I feared it might, with that first walk on the moon back in 1969."
Buy the CD of Sir Charles Groves conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra here...
www.amazon.co.uk/Holst-Planets...
The essay comes from the Penguin release of Charles Dutoit conducting the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, now out of print, but imports are still available...
www.amazon.co.uk/Holst-Planets...
Dutoit's performance is still available in a more recent release...
www.amazon.co.uk/Holst-Planets... - เพลง
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The ending to this is to die for.
Isn't it beautiful. After the terrifying approach of old age and decay, Holst completely turns it around and gives us radiant serenity and acceptance - that's the way I'd want to go :-)
It is such a soothing balm after the approaching terror! When the end comes, we finally let go and find our peace. Wonderful!
I see what you did there.
Richard Hembree ecks dee
7:03
Imagine your soul ascending to heaven 😇
It seems that the older the recording, the higher the quality.
Indeed. The older the purer. The newer the more water downed.
Yes. Probably has something to do with old-fashioned discipline, plus giving a ****.
Thank Saturn for that.
It's not the years, it's the mileage.
@@PhiCyclesToobBullshit.
Apparently, out of the planets, this one was personally Gustav’s favorite.
Interesting to know. 👍
Yes, Saturn was Gustav's favourite. For most people, their favourite is Mars or Jupiter. And my favourite is Neptune.
I know that it is mine four shure. At a certain age you begin to think of the final strech and it is a nice way to imagine the path
I know for a fact that at the funeral march part, he was inspired by Arnold Schoenberg's avant-garde music.
I hear three parts or stages in this piece. The beginning starts off with a very slow, ominous and foreboding sound. I picture one contemplating dying and death.
The second part (around 3:45) as it starts to pick up, it sounds like a struggle or resistance against death or dying; the bells makes me think of many people dying, as church bells were used to indicate the death of someone.
By 6:00, the individual has finally come to accept growing old and passing on with dignity and peace. From 6:00 is, by far, my favorite part because of the peaceful feeling and gives me the goosebumps every time. Thanks for sharing.
And thank you for sharing your thoughts. Yes, I can really see where you're coming from with these three sections .
@@ScotPeacock You've said it all. I can add nothing but 'I agree'
I can't explain why but this piece always makes me cry
Because it is incredibly profound. It was Holst’s own self-proclaimed favorite movement. Because it is the stages of grieving - the stages of accepting something horrible but inevitable, and the process of higher order rising above such circumstances and taming them/accepting them for what they are and not allowing them to disrupt your peace. It is an extremely human movement, perhaps moreso than any of the others, and I think it resonates deeply with all of us. That final chime, at the end gets me every time. It is an elderly loved one who says, be sad for me not. I go to a better place, and I will always be with you.
Birth is the opposite of death, not life. Life is eternal. Saturn represents old age, Uranus represents death and Neptune, being the last planet of the Solar System, represents rebirth.
@@Rishi123456789Uranus represents the Unknown, Neptune the Unknowable, and Saturn is Death which is the gateway to them.
@@Palafico3 Another good interpretation.
@@Rishi123456789these songs were based on their astrological interpretations, Uranus is sort of the world beyond the living, “the fixed stars” and the heavens, while Uranus represents the Absolute, the Eternal and completely unknowable, and in a sense the “realm of god”.
Saturn though is the planet of physical limitation, time, and death, and so acts as a liminal barrier between the more earthly planetary concepts and the more alien ones
from life running out and waiting to die , fear and dread of Death, then Death, and then afterlife journey into heaven.............it's all there.........perfection.....
the opening gives me goose-bumps when the bass comes in beautiful song!
Absutely! Those low, rich basses do it for me every time, too.
This was the version of The Planets I grew up with. Thanks for uploading it, I've been trying to remember who the conductor was for this recording. The Bass entrance at 7:03 is just as beautiful as I remember.
Hi Jeremy,
Yes, it is a sublime moment. I'm glad you've finally found the recording you remember. I love this performance. There is something just right about it :-)
7:03 to the end gets me every time
Yes, it's very moving. It's like after the struggle and the fear and the impending death, there is peace and acceptance and a letting go that brings an other-worldy bliss. Just beautiful!
I love the whole end section from 6:00 onwards then a change comes at 7:03. It takes a whole minute to play the fantastic single phrase in between. There are precious few pieces of music as special as this.
Compare the chord at 8:04 to 8:19. The one at 8:19 is a 7th minor, but it sounds more resolved because the lead jumps an octave. The resolution is ‘final’ in a sense.
Very haunting and at times eerie. Holst was certainly a man of talent.
I don't know why, but this piece puts me in the mind of the five stages of death. As the piece progresses, so do all the five stages in a montage of sorts
0:00 Denial (the repetitious nature of the beginning is like you keep reminding yourself that you still have some strength left in your old, broken-down body; but the reality is that you dont!)
1:42 Anger (it builds up progressively until you uncomprehensively let it all out at 2:31. It could be from your brittle body that has been abused for so long? Or you haven't taken good care of your body as a youth-i.e. health problems, no teeth, arthritis, etc.)
2:58 Fear (all your fears come alive. Paranoia kicks in, and you start to panic until 5:15. The paranoia has destroyed you! There is nothing you CAN do; immortality is out of the question-unless your ego lives on?)
6:02 Bargaining (you try to give up all your worldly possessions-whether it is through a last will in testament, or selling it all until at 7:03 you have nothing. It conveys emptiness. There is nothing else left to give away, unless it is your most-prized possession you wish to be buried with. It could be your favorite writing/drawing utensil at 7:04!)
7:44 Acceptance (You are ready to shed your mortal coil, and move on to the afterlife. You could have left behind a legacy, whether it is good or bad. EVERYONE will always leave behind something. It could be anything big or small, but it IS history...)
In layman's terms: Getting old sucks, but it is a fact of life. Nobody can escape it!
GC
Well said!
Perfect
You know if you think about it.. It’s sort of like Everywhere at the End of Time. Or it’s probably the opposite.
You should replace fear and bargaining with bargaining and depression respectively.
This piece makes me think of a kingdom that's just lost its king.
Thanks! It's very powerful but so re-assuring at the end. Beautiful! :-)
Perhaps the most perfect last minute of any classical piece in history.
#EuropeWidePress
The end of the Adagio of Bruckner's 8th is similar, also the last minute of Respighi's Fountains of Rome, Trevi.
Or even 3 minutes! I love that whole section. From the first time hearing it, I couldn't believe such music existed. I know there are a handful of places where similar wonder exists but this is perfection or as near to it as a human can make.
Thanks, maveric. I love this recording. Groves nails it on the head!
The bass tone on the Dutoit version is so huge and stunning. Glad you mentioned it. This version sounds more ethereal. I really love to hear the harps and tubular bells. Maybe I need to get this recording too, just as an excuse to hear it again.
This Saturn piece has really brought me back to the past .
Hi Dezza,
Yes, that is a beautiful and moving part. The lower brass are very richly caught and give a very solemn yet tender feeling. This is a very underrated recording, but I feel one of the best. Groves was a very well admired interpreter of Holst. His EMI recording of the Hymn of Jesus, although made in the late60s or early 70s is still amongst the most keenly recommended in the catalogue.
Wonderful piece of Music
Hi this is a really great piece of music, I'm doing this for a class but still, it was good. It kinda shows us that we're all going someplace when we die. And we shouldn't be afraid of death 😃
Fabulous. Amazing I LIKE IT
I want to go back to the stars x
This version is much eerier than the version I have on my phone. I like this one more.
6:38 to the finale is my favorite, I don't know why but that part stood out to me.
Nothing cured my anexity in the past 8 years as much as that part did , its too spiritual , as if my sould is ascending , as if am reaching eternal peace and serenity .. the calm of a silent sunrise , a bigining of an end ..
I've often thought of the section from 1:36 to 2:56 as a kind of Dawn of Creation theme. It certainly feels that way when I'm playing it on the piano.
4:03 Time....Just.....Keeeps.....Marching......Onward. Uphill, it seems. I love the build to crescendo.
It becomes so oppressive, like a specter of death haunting you and chiming in your every thought until there’s nothing but the toll.
So special
I fully agree
Oh great, thanks a lot - I'll definitely look out for that :)
The last bit: "Luuuuuuuuke....there - is - another - sk - y - walker......."
+fishynathanfilms And Yoda fades slowly as the music softly comes to a close :-)
Fight against the dying of the light
I’m pretty sure this piece says just the opposite lol
6:37 ここからラストまでは本当に美しいと思う。
I picture the rise and fall of the Roman empire while listening to this piece, don't know why!
Because Saturn's a Roman god maybe?
From 4:18 to 4:50, all I hear is the chords from "Raiders of the Lost Ark", whose music was composed by John Williams (and who earlier based the "Imperial March" from "Star Wars" from Holst's Mars.)
I remember the 2nd part of this song was we're Voyager was departing Saturn and our sun was a bright star. I'm referring to the Planets we're they showed a musical tour of the solar system with no narration just the Holst Music and computer generated space probes flying by the planets and moons.
The whole thing is wonderful but the part that never fails to make me cry is 7:57 and onward. Just the high chords, they're so... cared for and drawn out. It just feels so emotional, like people played those notes, because people did. Just so, mortal and human.
ME ENCANTA TODOS LO PLANETAS....ES UN SONIDO TAN MÍSTICO, QUE LLEGA HASTA LOS HUESOS
Es tan perfecta que no necesita de palabras para representar la idea...
I am no specialist, but I do hear stuff from the other movements like Jupiter, eg at 7:30 you can hear the la-so-me-do accompaniment and a small part of the first mvt. I also hear a bit of the rising brass theme from Mars and some Mercury as well. This piece may have some reminiscent points as well.
Best recording I reckon, especially love from 1:35 - 2:15
Saturn's music
I have both these versions too. I would like to like Dutoit better. It sounds wonderful, is played beautifully, and yet... something's missing for me. I love Lloyd-Jones and the RSNO. I would gladly have that version also without the Pluto (it's no longer a planet now, anyway). I go to see the RSNO occasionally. They're my local orchestra and when on form they are very exciting.
And yes, I love listening to different interpretations from different orchestras too :-)
@TK42138 Amen to that :-) A complete reality check!
What do you think of this version?
This is great for doing saturn magic.
The freaking Tik tok tik tok of the pendulum is soo eerie
James Gray's THE YARDS brought me (back) here.
This reminds me a lot of the Ark's motif from Raiders
John Williams has ripped off Gustav Holst many times.
Actually, I associate this particular piece with Dragon Quest (Malroth's Theme) and Ghostbusters (Gozer's Theme)
Saturn is associated with the number 8, Saturday,Jemm,son of Saturn and Saturn Girl from Legion of Superheroes!
GUAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU ME ENCANTA EL VIEJITO TAMBIÉN....ME REFIERO A SATURNO AH?????????????
Death, painful or not, doesn’t slow your life to halt as everyone speeds by you, to the point where your body continuously destroys itself more than has before, age does.
Edit: Two years later and I still fear the slow decline of my life, it’s far more terrifying and agonizing than death.
1:34 the good part. yay
this help me get over death of maradona
This music is like the world is going to end.
Armageddon written all over it
I listened to this while reading Maus (a book about the holocaust), and the combination of this song and the holocaust made me cry for months, and still if I hear a single note of this song I start to cry…
Are those harp harmonics at 6:00?
tomatoflight Yes, there are two harps and they’re played in the highest part of their range. There are maybe also some violins being plucked softly, but I think it’s just harps.
Anyone else get the same vibe as the Alien movies soundtrack
I know Williams borrowed a lot from Holst for Star Wars so it's very likely Goldsmith did the same thing.
ode to the zimmer frame ;)
Composed by Hans Zimmer?? :-D
No defintely not :) i think he meant to say that that Zimmer´s soundtracks are an ode to Gustav Holst :) if you listen to John Williams´s soundtrack to star wars, the old and also the ones we don´t speak of, you can hear Holst very clearly :)...btw this is my favourite "the planet suite"
Apology for the comment below good sir :D i know now that it was not needed for your benefit but maybe Owen Kric ;)
Don’t know about y’all but I’m still absolutely terrified of death after listening to this. Happy to see others are not the same though 😂😂
The planet that rules Capricorn.
Times Up Saturn
Lonely, despair and death
This makes me wanna die before fifty.
don't be silly. I'm 59, I'll be sixty this year and it's still pretty groovy.
yeah dont be silly. its a music thats sings of the beauty of old(er) age, in my opinion. you can symbolically die at fifty, and then go on. typical mid-life crisis music, which is why I'm listening to it. I briefly thought I was going to die young, in my thirties, but now I'm heading for over a 100.
"This makes me wanna die before fifty."
>anime profile pic
And nothing of value was lost.
What makes this even creepier was who Saturn actually was in Greco-Roman mythology. He castrated and murdered his father and later devoured most of his children.
Even creepier to imagine is, what the heck was wrong with people to invent such mythology in the first place.
@@PhiCyclesToob I believe most myths stand as ancient explanations on everything about the hows, whys, hows, and whats, of the universe. I’m assuming Saturn killed his dad and ate his kids to explain maybe why cannibalism and murder exist? Idk for sure
The Greek Pantheon is the most human like, and is a mix comedy an tragedy, or just plain bitter irony. Saturn castrated Uranus cause of Gaia to release the other titans. Then after a golden age, he had a prophecy from the Fates, where his kids would over throw him, an ate them out of fear, but also sealed it too.
@@PhiCyclesToob: "Even creepier to imagine is, what the heck was wrong with people to invent such mythology in the first place."
This is the dumbest comment I have ever read and I've read a lot of dumb comments. All mythologies have at least a kernel of truth in them.
I think I just aged 40 years 😶
...There was something amazing...You was a part of me for eons...I will never forget YOU...But now it is time to get back to the dark oceans of the void.
"You was a part of me for eons"
Extremely low-IQ post. Learn English. lol
bruh why come them guys back then didnt know how to turn up the volume 🤣🤣🤣😂😂
can barely even hear this fr😝