Celestial Threads

Few works in orchestral history have captured the public imagination like Gustav Holst’s The Planets. Written during the First World War, its seven movements conjure the astrological characters of the solar system with extraordinary invention, from the relentless hammering of ‘Mars, the Bringer of War’ to the regal triumph of ‘Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity’ and the supernatural eeriness of ‘Neptune, the Mystic’, with its distant, wordless chorus. A century on, Holst’s orchestral colours, propulsive rhythms and visionary scope remain both revolutionary and deeply beloved. His writing reshaped what an orchestra could express; by turns visceral, mystical and transcendent, its influence still radiates through concert halls and film scores.

In this performance, Orchestra Victoria presents The Planets in George Morton’s sensitively crafted chamber-orchestra arrangement. Morton preserves the work’s breadth and vivid colour while allowing its contrapuntal brilliance and harmonic daring to shine with striking intimacy. The result is an experience that feels both grand and personal: Holst’s vast celestial journey distilled into a sound world of luminous clarity, still as awe-inspiring as when it first premiered more than a century ago.

This program shines a spotlight on Holst’s daughter Imogen, who was a significant figure in British music as a composer and conductor throughout the 20th century. Gustav wrote The Planets when Imogen was only 10 years old; her Suite for String Orchestra was written in 1943, more than a decade after Gustav’s death in 1935. The familial tie is not the only thread connecting these two works: both were composed in wartime London, albeit almost 30 years apart.

Suite for String Orchestra is both a tribute to tradition and a bold statement of individuality. The four-movement work blends folk-like vitality with a modern clarity of line and rhythm. Its lilting 5/8 prelude, vigorous fugue and tender intermezzo for solo violin reveal a composer of distinctive voice and keen craftsmanship.

Imogen’s work has long lain in the shadow of her father’s towering reputation, but thanks to the advocacy of conductors like Alice Farnham, her voice is being heard afresh. In 2024, Farnham directed the landmark recording Discovering Imogen with the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers, bringing a host of her forgotten works to light. The album was hailed as a revelation, presenting Imogen as a composer of imagination and poise “hiding in plain sight”. To experience her Suite in the same program as her father’s Planets, under the baton of one of her foremost modern interpreters, is to hear father and daughter in conversation, revealing not only the legacy they share but also the independence of Imogen Holst’s creative voice.

Adding a thrilling contemporary energy is Djinn, a concerto for marimba and orchestra by acclaimed New Zealand composer John Psathas. Inspired by genies as mythical beings of fire and air, Djinn unfolds across three movements: ‘Pandora’, ‘Labyrinth’ and ‘Out-Dreaming the Genie’. Each movement is pulsing with driving rhythms, hypnotic grooves, and Psathas’s trademark fusion of classical form with jazz and global traditions. The marimba’s rich sonority and timbral agility make it the perfect protagonist for this modern myth, by turns virtuosic, meditative and explosive.