Friday, March 29, AD 2024 8:00am

Jupiter and Jollity

Something for the weekend.  Gustav Holst’s Jupiter, the bringer of jollity, my favorite part of The Planets.  Some things become so popular that we tend to take them for granted.  I am afraid that is what has happened to some degree with The Planets.  It is a magnificent piece of music and places Holst in the top ten list of composers of all time in my estimation.

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Mark DeFrancisis
Mark DeFrancisis
Saturday, March 14, AD 2009 12:04pm

Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Schumann, Dvorak, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky,and Mahler are clearly above Holst.

That’s saying nothing about Shostakovich, Elgar, Wagner, Rossini, Verdi, Grieg, Sibelius, Rachmoninov and many others.

Mark DeFrancisis
Mark DeFrancisis
Saturday, March 14, AD 2009 12:24pm

Cows have taste.

I’d say there are objective criteria here– albeit, elusive ones.

Henry Karlson
Saturday, March 14, AD 2009 12:24pm

Mars is better than Jupiter.

That’s why it is the Quatermass theme.

DarwinCatholic
Saturday, March 14, AD 2009 1:35pm

I’m not sure I’ll “go there” on whether Holst is a ‘top ten’ composer, though without question I really enjoy The Planets, but just to keep the apple of discord rolling I’ll note that I read a while back that Holst actually got really tired of The Planets’ popularity, thinking it wasn’t his best work.

Whether he was right on this I can’t judge, because the only Holst music I have is The Planets. So from his point of view, I’m clearly part of the problem.

Karl
Karl
Saturday, March 14, AD 2009 8:51pm

I am just contented that my old record player and my newer, yet apparently becoming more obsolete by the day, CD player, are willing to accept and play a variety of types of music, especially classical music, which has moved to near the top oof my favorites.

My favorite will always remain good old Rock and Roll from the 50s-early 60s and Buddy Holly will always be my most hallowed musician, although Mozart is right behind him. In my advancing years I have come to better appreciate a wider variety of musical styles.

Now I will have to listen to the various planet, pieces, to see if I have a preference. Most likely I will simply enjoy them, all, as they play.

Thanks for this post.

Mark DeFrancisis
Mark DeFrancisis
Sunday, March 15, AD 2009 11:44am

I love this piece of music, I failed to mention.

Thanks for the post.

Chris M
Chris M
Monday, March 16, AD 2009 6:52am

Deciding which is better, Mars or Jupiter, is a rather apples to oranges comparison..

“Mine’s the SUN. I like it because it’s like the King of Planets!”

Anthony
Anthony
Monday, March 16, AD 2009 2:31pm

Ah…the Planets. Great music, played it in high school. Though I think Saturn and Mercury are underrated pieces.

Congrats, Don. What you lack in taste when it comes to presidents you make up for in music. 🙂

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