Friday, April 17, 2009

Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity


The Planets Gustav Holst (Jupiter)



I was in the University planetarium and heard really bad keyboard versions of the Holst music for The Planets. (Kate Mulgrew did the voiceover for the production, she was good, but I would have preferred Patrick Stewart or Avery Brooks instead.)

I asked my teacher, “Why didn’t you use the real Holst music for the production.”

He laughed and said, “Because it would have cost too much to get the rights.”

Anyway, I figured I post the Jupiter track from youtube. It’s been used in hundreds of commercials. It has motivated many composers in space music to copy his style (John Williams, James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith).

The middle portion of the Jupiter piece is pretty much the heart and soul of this song. It is very majestic with some strong brass movements.

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Side Note: Here is another composer filling out Holst’s own suite with a very John Williams style song. It is called "Pluto, the Renewer", composed by Colin Matthews. It was produced in 2000. I really like it because it seems to have a modern sense to it with connections to Williams’ modern work and some Goldsmith thrown in.

Check it out and tell me what you think

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