Analysis Of The Planets By Gustav Theodore Holst

This feeling of power and patriotism is emulated from the first bar of ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’, in which the percussion section strikes on the first beat ‘very deliberately’ and at fortissimo volume. This immediacy presents the work’s force from the very

The symphony is in four very powerful and entertaining movements. The first movement begins in the pianissimo tone with the strings section, but quickly enters the fortissimo tone with the introduction of the woodwind, brass and percussion sections. The dynamics of the musical melody varies throughout the movement moving from crescendo to decrescendo modes. The first movement reminds you of a raging storm from soft blowing winds to thunder and lighting. The audience is mesmerized by this first movement of the sonata.

The melody in the first movement opens with the violins and they are then accompany by the violas and the cello. As you keep listening you notice that French horn, clarinets, flutes, and oboes contribute to the harmony. The first movement is also in the key signature of G minor. As you move through the first movement you enter into the second section which is in a different key. The key signature of the second movement is in B flat major. The instruments that have the melody this time are the violins along with the clarinets and bassoons.

A slow universal crescendo is audible until bar 29, when the dynamic then holds at a fortississimo (fff) – ‘as loud as possible’. Tr.1 provides a rest from the constant dissonant chords in bars 40-42 before returning to the regular rhythmic figure. This opening successfully displays the unpredictable intensity and discomfort of war through is constant rising and falling in dynamics and unexpectedly changing texture. At the end of bar 67 (after B1), all instruments quickly crescendo to another fff, before moving directly into the next section (C1 – see figure 2.2). This presents a triumphant mood through the melody of the brass instruments moving strictly along the D major scale (making regular use of its’ tonic, octave tonic, subdominant and dominant notes), and the lack of minor harmonies and dissonant intervals so commonly used in A1 and B1. The segment slowly begins to incorporate these dissonant harmonies in canon, bringing about an eventual sense of dread as the dynamic builds to a gradual fortissimo (ff) crescendo. Following this crescendo, all instruments participate in an ff universal decrescendo, combining to create an irregular Am (not native to the tonic chord) on a lower register (predominantly A2).

Romantic music inspired two smaller movements: nationalistic music and music about legends. Richard Wagner (1813-1883) is a German composer who wrote many pieces on the basis of a story or myth. He revolutionized opera through creativity, discontent with musical formulas and his focus on drama.

This orchestra grows rambunctious, rears on its hind legs and attacks the tonal veil with primitive fury, rendering it, clawing it until it breaks through to the jungle beyond. I follow those heathen - follow them exultantly. I dance wildly inside myself; yell within, I whoop... My pulse is throbbing like a war drum. I want to slaughter something--give pain, give death to what, I do not know.

The first is evident in m. 3, when the bass, tenor, and alto sing “Care”, and a c seventh diminished chord is sung. It then breaks off, and is resolved into a B major chord. Nevertheless, dissonance is portrayed in this word again when the soprano joins in at m. 7 and an augmented c triad is sung. This is significant in delineating the sadness of the piece. This first section continues with this technique, oscillating between dissonance and consonance. A highly consonant area is in the following section starting at m. 15, rightfully expressing the joy that music can bring. In m. 23, there is a dissonance for a one beat duration before the piece returns to the melancholic text. A dissonance is heard again in a c diminished chord between the top three parts in m. 26 in the word “deadly”, bringing back the text’s tension. The dissonances become less prevalent as the piece moves into the next section discussing happiness. Properly, the first part ends on a major chord, providing an uplifting end and supporting the triumphant mood the text brings.

Gustav Holst (1874-1934) was an English composer well known for his orchestral suite The Planets. Holst began his trip into the musical world as a young pianist. His father, Adolph Holst, was a skilled pianist who wanted Gustav to succeed at playing as he did. Gustav, however, was impaired by neuritis making it difficult to play for long hours. As Gustav aged he began trying to compose music instead. Gustav failed to gain scholarships to any colleges and his father, after hearing one of Gustav’s small town operettas, borrowed money to pay for his college. Gustav’s influences were pieces such as Wagner’s Götterdämmerung and Tristan and

After a minor wobble of the director stand, a few adjustments and giggles, Symphony No.1 in D major began. The first movement started off with an eerie introduction, with the first two notes morphing into a birdcall as well as main theme but a very magical sound. It made for a very soothing, romantic time. Throughout the piece I felt as if it told a story as most music does, what I came to believe it was a love story. The Allegro begins in the cello with the second Wayfarer song, “Ging heut morgen Ubers Feld,” (I Walked this Morning over the Field). With a light and happy tone in the beginning as if two lovers had just met, this was the main theme of this movement. Suddenly there was a deep, heavy part maybe one of despair in paradise but that only lasted for a short period as it came to a victorious ending of happily ever after. (Kahn)

Just so you know before hand, the lyrics to the music came from the CD with trademark of Delta Music Inc. The movement opens agitatedly as the orchestra picks up fragments of one theme after another from the previous three movements, as if seeking a satisfactory vehicle for its expression; but each is discarded in turn. The first seven notes of the main theme to come are tentatively uttered, but it too is abandoned as the search continues. Once again the theme begins, this time in the woodwinds, but it soon breaks off. Finally, the theme emerges decisively in the basses for a subdued first statement. The second statement is calm, tranquil, confident, and the theme continues onward in the various voices of the orchestra, broad and flowing. The winds make a strong statement of the theme. The flow of the music abruptly halts--there are rapid shifts--great agitation, until the orchestra introduces the baritone singing the first three lines of the poem, rejecting the feverish discords of the previous passage, calling for a different music, whose nature is suggested by the strings beneath his voice:

Saturn is one of the most interesting planets in the solar system. It is the sixth planet in the solar system, and is most famous for its stunning array of rings. It is a very easy planet to pick out in the sky because it is one of the brightest lights in the shy. It also has a very faint greenish color that makes it stand out from the rest of the objects in the sky (“Astronomy for Kids”). Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter being the only planet that is bigger. It also has at least eighteen moons, more than any other planet in the solar system. There have been three voyages to this extraordinary planet, and one is still in process today. The Pioneer II traveled to Saturn in September of 1979,

Who is the composer (full name and dates)? List three points about his life and environment.

Gustav Mahler’s “Songs of a Wayfarer” is a song cycle consisting of four songs. The songs are narrative, this is exemplified with the vocals. The first movement, “Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht”, begins with scurrying, festive sounds played by wind and percussive instruments. The upbeat sounds contrast the slow, reflective vocal melodies. Around 2:26, the music transforms into a slow, heavy, and mournful melody. This melody is emphasized with the use of woodwind and string instruments. The second movement, “Ging heut Morgen übers Feld”, happily opens with a predominant use of flutes and high string instruments, with the occasionally triangle emerging at 0:43. This movement is the most cheerful of all four movements. The flute gives the entire

The 1st movement is in sonata form. The slow introduction to this symphony is unusual in that it begins in the subdominant key - E minor, solemnly introduced by the bassoons. It modulates into B minor and the tempo increases for the principal subject. This theme is elaborated and developed, and a march-like motif forms a bridge passage leading to a climax. The strings then introduce an amorous, song-like second subject in D major. The development section enters with a bang. This section brings no startling thematic growth or transformation, but is

With The Planets, Op. 32, composed 1914-1916, Gustav Holst incorporates a wide array of cultural and scientific references to create musical characters for each of the planets in our solar system. The scientific connection is immediately clear simply by looking at how Holst chose to order the movements. While he does not specifically place the planets in order of distance from the sun, they still follow a pattern that clearly references their positions in space. Mars, Venus, and Mercury open the suite, being numbers 3, 2, and 1 from the sun (neglecting to count Earth, which does not appear). Following this are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, being numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7 in order. While an awareness of their scientific positions is