Download The_Planets_16-171

By
Gustav Holst
His life and major work
“The Planets”
 He was born on
September 21, 1874 in
England.
 He died on May 25th,
1934 of heart failure.
 He was a 20th Century
composer.
 How old was he when
he died?
 His mother and father
were both musicians.
This is a picture of his
mother, Clara.
 He was always sick, both as
a child and as an adult. He
had eye problems, asthma,
and neuritis, which made it
painful to play the piano.
When he became an adult,
he usually played the
trombone.
 He was a vegetarian,
never smoked, and
never drank alcohol.
 He fell in love with a
girl named Isobel and
married her in 1901
when he was 27 years
old. They had one
daughter, whom they
named Imogen.
 In addition to
composing, he was also
a teacher. He taught at
St. Paul’s School for
Girls in London.
Holst wrote “The Planets” as an
orchestral suite with 7 movements.
 Do you know what a suite is?
 A multi-movement form of instrumental
music where there are unlimited number
of movements with a unifying
characteristic (i.e. key, style, theme)
 At our Philharmonic Young People’s
Concert, you’ll hear 2 of the movements.
Each movement is named after a planet
along with its astrological character.
Listen to this excerpt of Holst’s
music from “The Planets.”
Mars, the Bringer of War
 What elements(s) of music suggest war? Explain your
answer.
 Which two families of instruments do you think are used
most in this movement?
 What is a repeated rhythmic pattern called?
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
• Which element of music is the first to get your
attention? Explain your answer.
• How does Holst create the feeling that the subtitle suggests?
• In the second section of this movement, why do
you think Holst used majestic sounding music?
• Create a colorful postcard (similar to the one above, but make your own
drawing). Also create a colorful “postage stamp”.
• Write a “Wish You Were Here” message as if you were vacationing on one
of the planets featured in the concert. Make sure you give good details
about what you’re seeing on your vacation.
• Address it to the Musicians of the Boise Philharmonic
• Have your teacher deliver it to your district’s music supervisor - who will
deliver it to Musicians.