Gustav Holst - VII. Neptune: The Mystic (The Planets)

The final planet in Holst’s suite and in our solar system is Neptune, where temperatures hit 350 degrees below zero [Fahrenheit] and icy winds blow at 900 miles an hour, more than five times the speed of a Category 5 hurricane. Its atmosphere swirls with intense storms, including Great Dark Spots, akin to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. “The Mystic” was mysterious indeed when Holst penned the piece. Neptune was only found in 1846, so in that sense, it is the “newest” of our solar system’s worlds.

Neptune is 30 times as far away from the sun as Earth. At that distance, it takes 165 years for Neptune to journey around our solar system’s central star. Neptune has just barely completed one full circuit since its discovery. We began our journey this evening with “La Mer” and the waters of Earth. Now we conclude with Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. Holst wrote one of classical music’s first fadeaways to end his journey through the planets. And how fitting an ending it is: As the sun’s influence fades beyond Neptune, to become just another star in the sky, we are left wondering what magnificence awaits us as we continue to reach out and explore the open seas of space beyond.

The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the solar system and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst. This is the 7th movement, “Neptune: The Mystic”, from orchestral suite “The Planets” (Op. 32) composed by Gustav Holst in 1914-1916.

Images: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Music: United States Air Force Band | IPGS Music

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