i cant believe this piece was so popular that they actually made planets in real life.

Holst: "I'm going to be the greatest movie composer ever!"
"Sir, movies haven't really been invented yet."
Holst: "WELL IMMA GONNA SCORE THEM ANYWAY!"

Mars is the first movement of this piece. Imagine having to hold your applause for another 40 minutes.

It's amazing how much John Williams took from this suite. I can hear so much from Star Wars and Indiana Jones in this.

We did the Jupiter portion in High School band as the last song we played together. Still get chills as it won us our state competition and we played our hearts out for it.

I was introduced to this by an older lady that worked at my small town library when I was a boy. She knew I liked the music of Star Wars and recommended this. It set my feet upon a journey and now I write music professionally. What a great set of works!

>Putting a picture of Neptune as Uranus

You had one job.

100 years old yet it feels modern and fresh.

Fun fact: This is actually is the first example of a fade-out in music. In "Neptune", Holst had a women's choir offstage, and towards the end, a door was closed slowly to create the fade-out effect. This was used to convey how far Neptune was, at the time (and today still) the furthest planet discovered (Edit: in the solar system).

Mercury, known for having the shortest orbital period in the solar system, is also the shortest track on this album.

Writing the Star Wars soundtrack more than 60 years before Star Wars. That's badass.

It really set the mood for the 20th century, didn't it?

Where's Earth ??
It wasn't yet discovered when Holst composed this, I assume

Mars, Bringer of War is essentially inspiration to Hans Zimmer (Gladiator) and John Williams (Star Wars).
It is insane, how "modern" this suite sounds.

This is the perfect way to combine my love for astronomy and music together. It also makes me feel like I should go practice my trombone as loud as I can at 3 in the morning to remind people of Mars.

He did not need an Earth, for the Earth was everything else. The planets, however, were grand performances designed to make you feel like you are at the planets. So great.

We hear this and think about how similar it is to the soundtracks of popular movies, video games, etc. But to imagine what the first people to hear this must have thought. Nobody at the time had ever heard anything remotely like this, it probably just absolutely blew their minds. It was insanely ahead of its time.

John Williams: hey can I copy your homework?
Holst: Sure just change it up a little
John Williams: Star Wars

Love that the commercials are mid-movement. I always wanted some Maroon 5 with my Holst.

Saturn is so underrated. You can HEAR death. The thematic writing here is stunning