September 29, 1918: The Planets premieres at the Queen's Hall in London. Conducted by Adrian Boult, it is a series of 7 movements, designed to capture the spirit of the mythological inspiration of the 7 planets then known to be in the solar system, excluding, of course, Earth. (Pluto was not discovered until 1930.)
The composer was Gustav Holst. In spite of his German-sounding name, and World War I still going on, he was born and raised in England, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in the West Country. His ancestry was German and Swedish, and he marked the 4th generation of his family to be a classical musician. He was 44 years old at the time of the premiere of The Planets, which had worked on since 1914.
In an early sketch for the suite, Holst listed Mercury as "no. 1", which Greene suggests raises the possibility that the composer's first idea was simply to depict the planets in the obvious order, from nearest the sun to the farthest: Mercury, Venus, (Earth,) Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
But music historian Richard Greene wrote, "However, opening with the more disturbing character of Mars allows a more dramatic and compelling working out of the musical material." Especially since "The Great War" was still on, with no one yet knowing that the Armistice was coming in just 43 days. The movements are as follows, with the planets given names from Roman mythology:
1. Mars, the Bringer of War. In Greek mythology, the god of war is Ares. This movement usually runs about 7 minutes.
2. Venus, the Bringer of Peace. The Romans called the goddess of love Venus, while the Greeks called her Aphrodite. But in terms of the actual planets, Venus has a much more violent atmosphere than Mars. About 8 minutes.
3. Mercury, the Winged Messenger. Noted for his speed, the Greeks called the messenger of the gods Hermes. This is the shortest movement, usually coming in at under 4 minutes.
4. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity. Alliteration aside, this title was a bad choice by Holst: If he wanted a joyful movement for his piece, he should have chosen a planet and god other than the king of the gods, known as Zeus to the Greeks, who is usually depicted as a vain and angry god, one very easily angered. He has been called "the goddiest god ever to god."
As perhaps the most complicated movement, depending on the recording, it has the most varied performance time, running anywhere from 7 to 8 minutes.
5. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age. Saturn was the father of Jupiter, known by the Greeks as Chronus, from which we get words relating to time: Chronal, chronological, chronic. It also takes the most time of any of the movements, sometimes running over 9 minutes.
6. Uranus, the Magician. The one planet whose name is taken from the Greeks, in Roman mythology, he is Caelus, god of the sky, sometimes said to be the father of the titans, including Saturn, and thus a progenitor of the gods. It runs about 6 minutes.
7. Neptune, the Mystic. Another odd title: The god of the sea, known as Poseidon to the Greeks, is associated with power, but not, then as now, with magic. It runs about 7 minutes.
In 2000, the English composer Colin Matthews, seeking to complete the solar system, wrote a new movement, "Pluto, the the Renewer." Unfortunately, in 2006, Pluto was downgraded to a "dwarf planet."
Pluto is the god of the underworld, known as Hades to the Greeks. They called his realm Tartarus, although, somewhere down the line, the realm itself became known as Hades, and the overseer became identified with the Biblical Devil Lucifer/Satan, and his realm with Hell. But the mythologies do not always depict Hades/Pluto as evil. Dark, yes; evil, not always. The Pluto version is also the god of wealth, leading to a government dominated by rich people being called a plutocracy.
Holst died in 1934. Boult, eventually knighted, lived until 1983. Imogen Holst, Gustav's daughter and biographer, and a composer in her own right, died the next year. So, while all of them lived to know of the discovery of Pluto, none of them lived to see a tribute to it added to The Planets. Imogen was his only child, and had no children herself, so his direct line died with her.
Opened in 1893, the Queen's Hall, named for Queen Victoria, became the home of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the 1930s. The Nazis destroyed it during the Blitz in 1941. It was never rebuilt: Both orchestras moved into the Royal Albert Hall, and the London Philharmonic moved into the Royal Festival Hall in 1951.
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September 29, 1918 was a Sunday. Professional basketball barely existed. Professional hockey did, but it was too early for the season to start. Professional football was, at this point, very minor-league. And the baseball season was cut short due to World War I, with the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series on September 11, beating the Chicago Cubs. So there were no scores on this historic day.
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