Gustav Holst
The Planets

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Information

Year of arrangement:  2015

Composer:  Gustav Holst (1874–1934)

Instrumentation:  1[/pic] 1 1 1 – 2 1 1 0 – 1perc, pno, str (min. 1 1 1 1 1)

Duration: 50mins

Commission: Sheffield International DocFest/Latitude Music Festival

Premiere: Rep Orchestra/George Morton, Latitude Music Festival, July 2015

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Sample Recording

Further recordings available on request

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Sample Score/Part

Score Demo
File Size:	199 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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Cello Part Demo
File Size:	108 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

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​Hire/License Information

Published by Universal Edition
Available to hire here

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Videos

Christopher Warren Green/London Chamber Orchestra

Simone Menezes/Ensemble K
Promotional Video, June 2022
 l'Eglise Saint Martin, Croix

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"George Morton’s brilliiant arrangement calls for just 4 woodwind, 4 brass, percussion, piano and 5 strings. Obviously the scale is more intimate, but it’s astonishing how much of the music’s colour, atmosphere and intensity remains."

Stephen Johnson, Writer and Broadcaster

" 'Mercury' scampered along puckishly, the instrumental and harmonic colours shifting as readily as in the original scoring"

Mike Wheeler, classicalmusicdaily.com

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Work Introduction

​This chamber edition of Holst’s The Planets was commissioned to be performed at Latitude Music Festival 2015 as part of the University of Sheffield’s Sounds of the Cosmos project.   Since its publication with Universal Edition in 2016 this arrangement has received numerous performances across the world to great acclaim.  

Written for individual woodwinds, a small brass section, one percussionist, pianist and a small string section, this new reduction of Holst's masterpiece enables ensembles to bring the work to concert halls of many sizes.  

• Strings: this arrangement can be performed with a quintet up to a full chamber orchestra section.

• Percussion: sd, bd, crotales/bells, tamb, tri, susp cym, cym

• Voices; this arrangement comes with parts for a reduced SSAA chorus (min. 6 voices), but can be performed with Holst's original choral score. 

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Back to Arranging

John Storgärds/Lapland Chamber Orchestra
Rehearsal, January 2020
Korundi Concert Hall, Rovaniemi

Purcell School Chamber Orchestra/Paul Hoskins
Hatfield House Chamber Music Festival 2021