History Music / GustavHolst

Gustav Theodore Holst (21 September 1874 –- 25 May 1934) was an English composer (of [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] and UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}}n descent) of the late 19th to early 20th century. He suffered from neuritis, so he had significant difficulty with his right hand motor skills. This shattered his childhood dream of being a concert pianist. Holst is most notable for his orchestral Suite ''The Planets'', a composition that became very popular and would go on to influence many of the composers and musicians of the 20th century.

* SerendipityWritesThePlot: The above mentioned use of a portion of "Jupiter" for "I Vow To Thee My Country" happened by accident. An overworked Holst was commissioned to set the poem to music, and he was relieved to no end when he realized the words fit the tune perfectly.

* PatrioticFervor: "Jupiter" from "The Planets" has a mid-section that Cecil Spring Rice later used as the melody for the patriotic hymn "I Vow to Thee My Country".

Gustav Theodore Holst (21 September 1874 –- 25 May 1934) was an English composer (of [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] and UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}}n descent) of the late 19th to early 20th century. He suffered from neuritis, so he had significant difficulty with his right hand motor skills. This shattered his childhood dream of being a concert pianist. Holst is most notable for his orchestral Suite ''The Planets,'' a composition that became very popular and would go on to influence many of the composers and musicians of the 20th century.

'''Gustav Theodore Holst''' (21 September 1874 –- 25 May 1934) was an English composer (of [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] and UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}}n descent) of the late 19th to early 20th century. He suffered from neuritis, so he had significant difficulty with his right hand motor skills. This shattered his childhood dream of being a concert pianist. Holst is most notable for his orchestral Suite ''The Planets,'' a composition that became very popular and would go on to influence many of the composers and musicians of the 20th century.

* ShoutOut:
** ''Edgon Heath'' was based on the novels of Creator/ThomasHardy, whom Holst particularly liked.
** "Jupiter, Bringer Of Jollity" is briefly quoted by Music/FrankZappa during "Invocation & Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin" on ''Music/AbsolutelyFree''.

* MusicalPastiche: When composing several pieces for ''Film/StarWars'', John Williams incorporated parts from ''The Planets'' such as "Venus" inspiring Leia's Theme as well as the using the main theme of "Jupiter" and the second part of "Mars" during the attack on the Death Star, and the beginning and end of "Mars" during the capture of the Blockade Runner and the Destruction of the Death Star respectively. Also the music where Luke is dragging Vader to the Shuttle Craft quotes the beginning of "Uranus".
* OrchestralBombing: "Mars: The Bringer Of War" in ''The Planets''.

* UranusIsShowing: "Uranus" is part of ''The Planets''.

* WingedHumanoid: "Mercury, the Winged Messenger" from ''The Planets''.

'''Gustav Theodore Holst''' (21 September 1874 –- 25 May 1934) was an English composer (of [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] and UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}}n descent) of the late 19th to early 20th century. He suffered from neuritis so had problems with his right hand, shattering his childhood dream of being a concert pianist.
Holst is most notable for his orchestral Suite ''The Planets'', a composition that became very popular and would go on to influence many of the composers and musicians of the 20th century.

* {{Bookends}}: ''The Planets'' ends with two compositions in [[UncommonTime quintuple meter]].

'''Gustav Theodore Holst''' (21 September 1874 –- 25 May 1934) was an English composer (of [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] and UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}}n descent) of the late 19th to early 20th century. He was most notable for his work on ''The Planets Suite'', a composition that would go on to influence many of the composers and musicians of the 20th century.

!!Tropes present in Holst's life and works:
* DreamCrushingHandicap: He suffered from neuritis so had problems with his right hand, shattering his childhood dream of being a concert pianist.

* TimeMarchesOn: ''The Planets'' was composed in 1915, before Pluto was named a planet in 1930. Holst was still alive at the time, but his MagnumOpusDissonance regarding ''The Planets'' meant that he had no interest in writing a movement for Pluto, and for decades people felt this absence was unfortunate, and other composers such as Clive Strutt and Colin Matthews have added movements about Pluto to the work, which are occasionally included in concerts and recordings. The situation changed again when in 2006 Pluto was declared to be a dwarf planet, making Holst's musical piece up to date again.
* TropeMaker: Almost single-handedly popularized the wind ensemble. Seriously. Your school band would not exist if it weren't for Holst. He did this particularly with First Suite in E-flat for Military Band.

* TimeMarchesOn: ''The Planets'' was composed in 1915, before Pluto was named a planet in 1930. Holst was still alive at the time, but his MagnumOpusDissonance regarding ''The Planets'' meant that he had no interest in writing a movement for Pluto, and for decades people felt this absence was unfortunate. That changed when in 2006 Pluto was declared to be a dwarf planet, making Holst's musical piece up to date again. Also, his musical rendition of the planets does not match what we now know to be the reality (in particular Venus being associated with peace when it's actually covered in storms of boiling acid). In fairness this was based mainly on the astrological/[[Myth/ClassicalMythology mythological]] meanings of the planets.

* TimeMarchesOn: ''The Planets'' was composed in 1915, before Pluto was named a planet in 1930. Holst was still alive at the time, but his MagnumOpusDissonance regarding ''The Planets'' meant that he had no interest in writing a movement for Pluto, and for decades people felt this absence was unfortunate. That changed when in 2006 Pluto was declared to be a dwarf planet, making Holst's musical piece up to date again. Also, his musical rendition of the planets does not match what we now know to be the reality (in particular Venus being associated with peace when it's actually covered in storms of boiling acid). In fairness this was based mainly on the astrological/[[ClassicalMythology mythological]] meanings of the planets.

* EtherealChoir: "Neptune" from "The Planets" ends with a choir singing, suggesting the infinity of the universe.
* IAmVeryBritish: Holst's music has a very typical British pomposity to it: ''Edgon Heath'', ''St. Paul's Suite'',...

* LastNoteNightmare: ''Uranus: The Magician'' is mostly whimsical and bouncy bouncy, until the end, where the 4th to last note is a dissonant crash, followed by a softer echo, and an unsettling resolution. it's a near polar opposite fom the previous movement, ''Saturn: The Bringer of Old Age''.
* MusicalPastiche: When composing several pieces for Film/StarWars, John Williams incorporated parts from ''The Planets'' such as "Venus" inspiring Leia's Theme as well as the using the main theme of "Jupiter" and the second part of "Mars" during the attack on the Death Star, and the beginning and end of "Mars" during the capture of the Blockade Runner and the Destruction of the Death Star respectively. Also the music where Luke is dragging Vader to the Shuttle Craft quotes the beginning of "Uranus."
* OrchestralBombing: ''Mars: The Bringer Of War'' in ''The Planets''.

* ShoutOut:

** ''Jupiter, Bringer Of Jollity'' is briefly quoted by Music/FrankZappa during ''Invocation & Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin'' on ''Music/AbsolutelyFree''.

* StandardSnippet: ''Mars'', ''Jupiter'' and ''Neptune'' from ''The Planets'' are among the most plagiarized and quoted musical compositions of all time. Virtually every sciencefiction movie or battle movie has a score directly inspired by these movements.
* TimeMarchesOn: ''The Planets'' was composed in 1915, before Pluto was named a planet in 1930. For decades people felt the absence of a musical movement for Pluto was unfortunate. That changed when in 2006 Pluto was declared to be a dwarf planet, from now on, making Holst's musical piece up to date again. Also, his musical rendition of the planets does not match what we now know to be the reality (in particular Venus being associated with peace when it's actually covered in storms of boiling acid). In fairness this was based mainly on the astrological/[[ClassicalMythology mythological]] meanings of the planets.
* TropeMaker: Almost single-handedly popularized the wind ensemble. Seriously. Your school band would not exist if it weren't for Holst.
** He did this particularly with ''First Suite in E-flat for Military Band''.
* UranusIsShowing: ''Uranus'' is part of ''The Planets''.
* WarIsHell: ''Mars: Bringer of War'' is a dark and brooding opener of ''The Planets'', evoking the militaristic marching associated with warfare. It was composed during WorldWarOne too.
* WingedHumanoid: ''Mercurius the Winged Messenger'' from ''The Planets''.

* SorryBillyButYouJustDontHaveLegs: He suffered from neuritis so had problems with his right hand, shattering his childhood dream of being a concert pianist.

* MusicalPastiche: When composing several pieces for Star Wars, John Williams incorporated parts from ''The Planets'' such as "Venus" inspiring Leia's Theme as well as the using the main theme of "Jupiter" and the second part of "Mars" during the attack on the Death Star, and the beginning and end of "Mars" during the capture of the Blockade Runner and the Destruction of the Death Star respectively. Also the music where Luke is dragging Vader to the Shuttle Craft quotes the beginning of "Uranus."

* CreatorBacklash: Though ''The Planets'' went on to become his most popular pieces, Holst mused on the fact that it had overshadowed all his other works.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: ''The Planets''
** He quite liked "Saturn", though.

* ScienceMarchesOn: His musical rendition of the planets does not match what we now know to be the reality (in particular Venus being associated with peace when it's actually covered in storms of boiling acid). In fairness this was based mainly on the astrological/[[ClassicalMythology mythological]] meanings of the planets.
** For a long time, the absence of Pluto was this, but then Pluto was demoted from being a planet.

* ScienceMarchesOn: His musical rendition of the planets does not match what we now know to be the reality (in particular Venus being associated with peace when it's actually covered in storms of boiling acid). In fairness this was based mainly on the astrological meanings of the planets.

''I Vow To Thee, My Country'''s music is derived from a section of ''Jupiter'' of ''The Planets'', by the way, so you most certainly have heard of Holst's work if you're in Britain or other Commonwealth countries.

Gustav Holst was an English composer (of [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] and UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}}n descent) of the late 19th to early 20th century. He was most notable for his work on ''The Planets Suite'', a composition that would go on to influence many of the composers and musicians of the 20th century.

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!!General Tropes:

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* ScienceMarchesOn: His musical rendition of the planets does not match what we now know to be the reality (in particular Venus being associated with peace when it's actually covered in storms of boiling acid). In fairness this was based mainly on the mythological connections of the planets' namesakes, the Roman deities.

* ScienceMarchesOn: His musical rendition of the planets does not match what we now know to be the reality (in particular Venus being associated with peace when it's actually covered in storms of boiling acid). In fairness this was based mainly on the mythological connections of the planets' namesakes.

''I Vow To Thee, My Country'''s music is derived from a section of ''Jupiter'' of ''The Planets Suite'', by the way, so you most certainly have heard of Holst's work if you're in Britain or other Commonwealth countries.

* CreatorBacklash: Though ''The Planets' Suite'' went on to become his most popular pieces, Holst mused on the fact that it had overshadowed all his other works.

* MusicalPastiche: When composing several pieces for Star Wars, John Williams incorporated parts from ''The Planets Suite'' such as "Venus" inspiring Leia's Theme as well as the using the main theme of "Jupiter" and the second part of "Mars" during the attack on the Death Star, and the beginning and end of "Mars" during the capture of the Blockade Runner and the Destruction of the Death Star respectively. Also the music where Luke is dragging Vader to the Shuttle Craft quotes the beginning of "Uranus."
* MagnumOpusDissonance: ''The Planets Suite''

''I Vow To Thee, My Country'''s music is derived from a section of ''Jupiter'' of ''The Planets'', by the way, so you most certainly have heard of Holst's work if you're in Britain or other Commonwealth countries.

* MusicalPastiche: When composing several pieces for Star Wars, John Williams incorporated parts from the Planets such as "Venus" inspiring Leia's Theme as well as the using the main theme of "Jupiter" and the second part of "Mars" during the attack on the Death Star, and the beginning and end of "Mars" during the capture of the Blockade Runner and the Destruction of the Death Star respectively. Also the music where Luke is dragging Vader to the Shuttle Craft quotes the beginning of "Uranus."
* MagnumOpusDissonance: ''The Planets''