Holst's The Planets: An Introduction

‘The Planets’ is a popular orchestral piece by British composer Gustav Holst written between 1914-1916. It’s a substantial work, almost an hour long, for an extended orchestra, including specially featured instruments such as the alto flute, bass oboe and celeste and  additional off-stage singers. Each of its seven movements describes a planet in the Solar System – not the astronomical ball-of-gas-and-rock planet, but the astrological character each planet represents.

Holst’s original movements are:

Mars: The Bringer of War

Venus: The Bringer of Peace

Mercury: The Winged Messenger

Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity

Saturn: The Bringer of Old Age

Uranus: The Magician

Neptune: The Mystic

Today, ‘Mars’ and ‘Jupiter’ are the most performed, but the entire suite a huge success in Holst’s lifetime. Over the last 100 years, ‘The Planets’ has been celebrated and added to – Colin Matthews composed an eighth movement ‘Pluto: The Renewer’ (2000) and the suite has been arranged for ensembles and groups of all types and ages, including Jeremy Levy’s Big Band arrangement ‘The Planets: Reimagined’.

In ‘The Planets: Beyond Earth’, Wyatt Sinfonia and David Önaç are adding our own take on the work, inviting young people to be inspired by Holst’s music and create their own ideas based on it. Their musical ideas will form the basis of new choral parts to performed alongside Holst’s orchestral original – this new version will be premiered by young people and professionals side-by-side on 17 November 2026 at Evolutionary Arts Theatre, Hackney.

For some great recordings and more information see here:

• Holst: Die Planeten ∙ hr-Sinfonieorchester ∙ Hugh Wolff

• 'Mars' only: Holst: The Planets, 'Mars' - BBC Proms

• Programme Note “The Planets” | Berliner Philharmoniker