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Favorite movement from The Planets


Romão

Your favorite movement from Holst's The Planets  

45 members have voted

  1. 1.

    • Mars, the Bringer of War
      13
    • Venus, the Bringer of Peace
      3
    • Mercury, the Winged Messenger
      2
    • Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
      16
    • Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
      4
    • Uranus, the Magician
      4
    • Neptune, the Mystic
      3


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I'm just curious, since this piece has been a constant inspiration for film music.

Mine is Uranus, specially the second half, when the orchestra simply goes frenetic. Every movement has a lot of personality, though.

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Jupiter here. The theme in the middle does it to me ROTFLMAO Majestic.

Same here. Though most of the movements have a special moment for me.

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Venus > Mars > Mercury > Neptune > Uranus > Jupiter > Saturn

I guess I have a bias against the outer planets ROTFLMAO

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Mars. Anything that can successfully pull off a 5/4 time signature with such rhythmic force and orchestral intensity wins in my book. Jupiter comes in a close second.

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Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity. It is both funny and majestic. An odd combination of attributes.ROTFLMAO

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They're all good. Even limiting it to three (and I might be leaving out more than I'm aware of here), namely Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, I still couldn't choose.

Marian - who still has to get his Dutoit CD back.

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The middle part of Jupiter is the best part of the entire The Planets...100% awesome.

However, Mars is consistantly at 99.9% from the first second to the last, and therefore wins in my book.

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My initial gut instinct is to say 'Uranus' simply because it has such orchestral flair and brilliance (which one of the movements *don't* for that matter).

However, I have voted for 'Neptune' the Mystic instead - it has an unearthly sound to it that has always captured my imagination of the incomprehensible vastness and beauty of Space.

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Oh the horror! Choosing a favorite movement? Gah...

I voted for Jupiter. That's an old favorite of mine--when I was about six, that was all I'd listen to--but it's by no means "better" than the others. Saturn, Neptune, and Mars are incredible. Mercury is written with great ingenuity, although it's not as interesting to me. Venus has a certain beauty to it, but it's not really my cup of tea.

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I don't listen to the last movements as often. Not because I don't like them, but because I always start at the beginning.

I think my favorite is Venus, although it has more impact when played straight after Mars then when played alone.

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the one where earth moves around the sun each day.

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Jupiter's middle was what originally got me into The Planets, so my gut is to choose it. I've since fallen in love with Venus, Mars, and Uranus, but Jupiter still wins.

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Although they all are strong, I choose Saturn... it has some serious majestic power of mystic quality with those powering chords emerging over several minutes from those initial flute harmonies...

...btw the part that James Horner ripped off for the entrance of the horse into Troy...

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When going to bed last night, the radio was just broadcasting this (a Norrington recording); they were right in the middle of Jupiter when I turned it on. I wasn't too excited about this bit because Norrington's conducting was far too strict, it didn't sound majestic at all. Other parts were better.

The point I was going to make though is that I should never have left out Uranus. It's wondeful.

Marian - who can't even narrow it down to 3. ;)

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The whole piece is phenomenal, but let's face it Mars: The Bringer of War is one of the most exciting movements ever written. Mars therefore gets my vote. Closely followed by Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, and then finally Neptune and Uranus (giggle).

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Saturn,because the last 2 1/2  minute are incredible

K.M.

Indeed. I wanted to vote for Mars or Jupiter, because they are the most listenable ones. They're so film-scorey, but as such I've heard much like them, and like the other movements, except for Saturn. It's unique, and I'll be putting the last passage from it on my newest 'chilling' CD.

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Answering this question can't be done by long pondering. The more you think about the question, the greater number of times you'll find yourself thinking "Oh, but what about . . ." Each movement so perfectly fulfills its role and uses its unique orchestral pallet to do so. From the opening bass figues of "Mars" to the final chorus of "Neptune" fading away into the icy depths of space, each planet becomes my favorite while I'm listening to it. In order to answer the poll, I went with immediate gut reaction: "Mercury, the Winged Messenger". I see I'm only the second to vote that way ( :) Ross)

Anthony, wondering who else has an orchestral score for this that they follow along with while listening.

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Why did Holst present Mars and Mercury the wrong way round? Just to get Venus's "Peace" after the "War"?

And are Earth and Pluto missing because the former is our planet and not mythical enough, and the latter not discovered at the time of his conception of the work?

Someone should compose Pluto (if this hasn't been done already), like The Bringer of Death; and/or Earth, The Bringer of Life or something.

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And what are your favorite recordings of the Planets? I have to admit I'm not that fond of Williams' recording.

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And what are your favorite recordings of the Planets? I have to admit I'm not that fond of Williams' recording.

As mentioned above, mine is Dutoit so far.

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And what are your favorite recordings of the Planets? I have to admit I'm not that fond of Williams' recording.

The best recordings are that of Dutoit's and Andre Previn's.

Get Dutoits for his unique interpretation of The Planets...

Get Previn's for the best quality recording of the planets in existence.

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I have Levine, and it's the only one I've heard, actually. Is it good enough to stick to until the opportunity of getting the ones you recommend?

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