The British composer Gustav Holst, fascinated by astrology, chose the planets of our solar system and the characteristics attributed to them as the basis for what he referred to as musical “mood pictures” or “embodiments.” Ultimately, the seven movements of his orchestral suite The Planets, composed between 1914 and 1916, can also be understood as general explorations of human traits. The work had not been performed by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for almost three decades when, in February 2022, the British conductor Daniel Harding brought it back to Munich’s concert audience in the Herkulessaal, and with great success.
Holst: The Planets – Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Harding
