Holst The Planets SACD

When Gustav Holst composed his celebrated suite 'The Planets' during the First World War, the solar system was bounded by the orbit of Neptune ('The Mystic' in Holst's astrological subtitle) - which Holst naturally placed at the end of his masterpiece. It was not until fifteen years later that American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, trying to find the reason for peculiarities in Neptune's orbit, realised that there was another planet further out whose gravitational pull was influencing it. And so was discovered the dark, remote and mysterious world of Pluto, named after the king of the Underworld. The discovery was made but three years before Holst's death, but he never expressed any intention of adding it to his by then famous work.

Sixty years later, invited to do so by The Hallé Orchestra, the challenge was taken up by Colin Matthews whose 'Pluto - The Renewer' emerges eerily from the disappearing final bars of 'Neptune'. This is the first recording of Holst's 'Planets' with the additional planet, sumptuously recorded by Tony Faulkner in Manchester's Bridgewater Hall.

The CD also includes Holst's late Lyric Movement for viola and chamber orchestra, written in 1933, the year before Holst died.

"Wonderfully imaginative [Pluto] - a lightning-fast scherzo that grows out of the dying moments of a preceding Neptune and finally evaporates as mysteriously as it started" - The Guardian

"The Planets’ is beautifully performed, the Hallé on fine form and radiantly strong in Mars, Jupiter and Holst’s swansong, the Lyric Suite" - The Yorkshire Post

"Holstians will be grateful for a beautiful account of the melancholy Lyric Movement, but for those mainly interested in The Planets this has few rivals as a performance" - International Record Review

"Colin Matthews has finally completed the picture with Pluto, and hearing it on this fine recording alongside Holst’s original, the scale of his achievement becomes clear. Fast, pacy and light like the solar winds of the planet itself, Colin Matthews has enhanced our enjoyment and appreciation of Holst’s original work, beautifully and movingly played here by the Hallé Orchestra under Mark Elder" - Classic FM Magazine

"Pluto is an exhilaratingly fleet essay, laced with Holstian allusions. Elder also presides over a perceptive account of the haunting 1933 Lyric Movement. ‘Here’s to more high-quality productions from this new partnership" - Gramophone

"[Matthews] succeeds miraculously in evoking Holst’s spirit while remaining genuine Matthews. This disc is a highly desirable addition to anyone’s collection" - BBC Music Magazine

Musicians: The Halle Orchestra and The Ladies of the Halle Choir conducted by Mark Elder; Timothy Pooley, viola.

Selections:

The Planets Suite for Orchestra, H125 (Op 32):

1. Mars - The Bringer of War

2. Venus - The Bringer of Peace

3. Mercury - The Winged Messenger

4. Jupiter - The Bringer of Jollity

5. Saturn - The Bringer of Old Age

6. Uranus - The Magician

7. Neptune - The Mystic

8. Pluto - The Renewer (Matthews)

9. Neptune - The Mystic (with original ending)

10. Lyric Movement for viola and small orchestra, H191