Holst: The Planets, Op. 32

This page lists all recordings of The Planets, Op. 32, by Gustav Theodore Holst (1874-1934) on CD & DVD. Generally, more recent CDs and DVDs are listed first, but with priority given to items that are in stock.

Recommendations

BBC Music Magazine Orchestral Choice September 2006	Building a Library First Choice August 2005	Building a Library Budget Choice August 2005	Building a Library Highly Recommended August 2005	Gramophone Awards 1987 Best of Category Engineering
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All recordings

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Holst - The Planets

Holst:

The Planets, Op. 32

Lyric Movement

Timothy Pooley (viola)

Neptune - The Mystic (with original ending)

Matthews, C:

Pluto - The Renewer

with The Ladies of The Hallé Choir

The Hallé Orchestra, Mark Elder

When Gustav Holst composed his celebrated suite 'The Planets' during the First World War, the solar system was bounded by the orbit of Neptune ('The Mystic' in Holst's astrological subtitle)—which Holst naturally placed at the end of his masterpiece. It was not until fifteen years later that American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, trying to find the reason for peculiarities in Neptune's orbit, realised that there was another planet further out whose gravitational pull was influencing it. And so was discovered the dark, remote and mysterious world of Pluto, named after the king of the Underworld. The discovery was made but three years before Holst's death, but he never expressed any intention of adding it to his by-then famous work. Sixty years later, invited to do so by The Hallé Orchestra, the challenge was taken up by Colin Matthews whose 'Pluto—The Renewer' emerges eerily from the disappearing final bars of 'Neptune'. This was the first recording of Holst's 'Planets' with the additional planet, sumptuously recorded by Tony Faulkner in Manchester's Bridgewater Hall.

The CD also includes Holst's late Lyric Movement for viola and chamber orchestra, written in 1933, the year before the composer died.

Originally issued on CDA67270

“Wonderfully imaginative [Pluto] – a lightning-fast scherzo that grows out of the dying moments of a preceding Neptune and finally evaporates as mysteriously as it started” The Guardian

“Holstians will be grateful for a beautiful account of the melancholy Lyric Movement, but for those mainly interested in The Planets this has few rivals as a performance” International Record Review

“Colin Matthews has finally completed the picture with Pluto, and hearing it on this fine recording alongside Holst’s original, the scale of his achievement becomes clear. Fast, pacy and light like the solar winds of the planet itself, Colin Matthews has enhanced our enjoyment and appreciation of Holst’s original work, beautifully and movingly played here by the Hallé Orchestra under Mark Elder” Classic FM Magazine

“Pluto is an exhilaratingly fleet essay, laced with Holstian allusions. Elder also presides over a perceptive account of the haunting 1933 Lyric Movement … Here’s to more high-quality productions from this new partnership” Gramophone Magazine

“[Matthews] succeeds miraculously in evoking Holst’s spirit while remaining genuine Matthews. This disc is a highly desirable addition to anyone’s collection” BBC Music Magazine

Helios - CDH55350

(CD)

$7.49

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Holst:	The Planets, Op. 32
Strauss, R:	Don Juan, Op. 20

Wiener Philharmonike, Herbert von Karajan

Recorded: Sofiensaal, Vienna, June 1960 (Strauss); September 1961 (Holst)

'I found this an enormously exciting performance of The Planets ... Karajan gives an absolutely splendid performance, breathing new life into the music ... and it is just so welcome to see how finely this music comes up in the hands of a ... different conductor of such gifts ... this is a performance to be heard ... Karajan has brought a new excitement to this music ... I do hope he is playing it to his audiences in Vienna'. Gramophone May 1962

Decca - Originals - 4758225

(CD)

$11.49

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Holst - The Planets

Dean, B:	Komarov's Fall
Holst:	The Planets, Op. 32
Matthews, C:	Pluto - The Renewer
Pintscher:	Towards Osiris
Saariaho:	Asteroid 4179 – Toutatis
Turnage:	Ceres

Berliner Philharmoniker & Rundfunkchor Berlin, Sir Simon Rattle

Shirley Apthorp reviewed the premieres in the Financial Times (21st March 2006): "Rattle conducts the [Planets] suite with uncritical gusto, letting the orchestra’s lush sheen show... This audacious project is carried by Rattle’s flair, and nurtured with the optimal conditions needed to give new works a wider orbit. Watch the musical skies near you for further sightings of these rocky bodies"

BBC Music Magazine