Gustav Holst - I. Mars: The Bringer of War (The Planets)

Most of Earth’s planetary neighbors have been known for thousands of years, but for much of that time, they were not much more than wandering points of light that moved predictably through the sky. When Holst composed his “Planets” suite a century ago, the best telescopes of the time were only just beginning to reveal the true nature of the planets. Holst drew his inspiration from Roman myth, not fledgling scientific observation. In some cases, the mythology shares some common ground with what we know today about the planets. Holst titled his movement on Mars “The Bringer of War.” The driving power of this opening piece evokes the Red Planet’s towering dormant volcanoes and battered cratering. The solar system’s biggest canyon is like a battle scar across Mars’ torso. Mars can be a downright hostile place! It’s also a far more active world than you might think. NASA’s orbiters, landers and rovers see small tornados wisp across the surface. We see new craters from new impacts. We see water vaporizing into a thin Martian atmosphere that the solar wind rips away. The more we’ve learned about Mars today, the more we’ve learned about Mars of the past. We don’t think Mars ever hosted vast civilizations, but Mars was once a wet world, one that may have looked a lot more like Earth. Was there ever life there? Is there life there now? As you listen to this driving and exciting piece, imagine how amazing the answers to those questions could be.

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 1st movement, “Mars, The Bringer Of War”, 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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