Planetary Motion
“Music, being identical with heaven, isn’t a thing of momentary thrills, or even hourly ones. It’s a condition of eternity.”
What can I say about the Planets that has not already been said? Not much.
What I can tell you is my own personal experience with the suite. I had not expected to open this project with the planets. Indeed, this whole endeavour was supposed to get off the ground nearly two months ago, and I hadn’t Holst on the brain then. But, Divine Providence has played its hand, and here I am, fresh off a live performance of the Planets thinking that nothing could be more fitting to begin a project Music of the Spheres with than, well, the music of the spheres. You can read endless accounts and analysis of this piece, I’m not here to do a deep dive for you, it’s been done. There’s a reason this is so popular, there’s a reason it’s stood the . I’m just here to tell you a little bit about why I love this suite. Just listen to it, you can read my ramblings later.
Recordings:
Berlin Philharmonic: Herbert von Karajan; 1981
“The enormity of the universe revealed by science cannot readily be grasped by the human brain, but the music of The Planets enables the mind to acquire some comprehension of the vastness of space where rational understanding fails.”