BaL 27.09.14 - Holst: The Planets

[Petrushka]

The Boult BBCSO 1973 Proms performance released on a BBD MM CD, mentioned above, is a DDD recording according to the CD liner notes.
Can this be true?

The Beethoven Piano Concerto No 1 from Paul Lewis, the BBCSO and Belolhavek with which it is coupled is certainly DDD (and a very fine performance it is too) but most definitely not Boult's Planets.

Also, at 82' 31'' it's a contender for the 'longest CD' thread,

[Bryn]

Um, no!

EDIT Unless it's a very early experimental recording of course, and I think we would have been told...

According to Wiki the first commercial 8-track digital recorder (Denon) dates from 1972, but the first commercial digital recording had to wait till 1977.

Actually Denon issued some digital recordings a little earlier. For instance, Yuji Takahashi's second comercial recording of John Cage's Sonatas and Interludes was a Denon digital recording made in 1975 and issued on LP in 1976. There was also some Satie from him around the same period. The Cage has appeared since on CD in at least 3 versions, the latest one I know of was in 2012 and was remastered to try and compensate for some of the limitation of the early digital system used. I got the Cage LP from the sadly missed Steve's Sounds in the late '70s. It had copious illustrated notes, in Japanese (which I do not read), on the digital system employed. I also got a later CD issue, but not the late '90s remastering.

[Pabmusic]

...Also there hasn't been (I think) any mention of the version for 2 pianos (made by Holst himself I think) . I acquired this a few years back (by Peter Donohue and Martin Roscoe). I feel this brings some extra clarity to the music, at the expense of colour, and is well worth a listen.

[Anorak goes on] There is a piano duet version by Nora Day and Vally Lasker (Holst's amanuenses during composition of The Planets). It was published in 1923, shortly after the full score. The 2-piano arrangement is by Holst himself and was published in parts between 1949 and 1951.

[Bryn]

As mentioned in an earlier thread, there is also now a solo piano arrangement by Dave Smith, and very effective it is, too.

[BBMmk2]

Black Dyke Band, when then were conducted by the late James Watson, has recorded the work on Doyen.

Don't forget this one!!! :)

[MickyD]

[Anorak goes on] There is a piano duet version by Nora Day and Vally Lasker (Holst's amanuenses during composition of The Planets). It was published in 1923, shortly after the full score. The 2-piano arrangement is by Holst himself and was published in parts between 1949 and 1951.

I have it in a version recorded by pianists Nettle and Markham.

[mercia]

He did say, "If only she'd realised he [Holst] was the first minimalist."

yes, I've forgotten what makes Holst a minimalist - if it is the repetition of little rhythmic patterns, could I call Beethoven a minimalist for repeating the rhythm of the opening of the 5th symphony over and over ?

[Nick Armstrong]

yes, I've forgotten what makes Holst a minimalist - if it is the repetition of little rhythmic patterns, could I call Beethoven a minimalist for repeating the rhythm of the opening of the 5th symphony over and over ?

I don't get/recall DON's point on that either

[visualnickmos]

"If only she'd realised he [Holst] was the first minimalist."

He did indeed, say this, and I must say, I was a bit surprised - I hadn't thought about Holst being a minimalist, but - hey - why not....

After all, Turner was the first abstract artist....

[Tapiola]

He did say, "If only she'd realised he [Holst] was the first minimalist."

I do think this is a bit of a nonsense. It's like saying that Bach was the first dodecaphonist on account of the Fugue in B minor from Book 1 of the 48.

[gradus]

I think no-one has mentioned the Sargent version. Back in the 50s and 60s there were 2 contenders, I seem to remember - Boult and Sargent. I had the Sargent version on LP, and this performance could be relied on to turn up each year at the Proms with the BBC SO. I always found this to be highly enjoyable - although I now have the Dutoit version!

Also there hasn't been (I think) any mention of the version for 2 pianos (made by Holst himself I think) . I acquired this a few years back (by Peter Donohue and Martin Roscoe). I feel this brings some extra clarity to the music, at the expense of colour, and is well worth a listen.

I agree, the Sargent BBCSO recording is highly enjoyable and quite well recorded too.

[verismissimo]

I recently picked up the LSO with Holst conducting in 1926 - AC Griffith transfer to LP from metals in 1972. 99p from Oxfam in Stratford.

Gosh it's good.

[Barbirollians]

The BBCSO/Boult from 1945 is stupendous and I had forgotten how stupendous - in the boult from Tchaikovsky to Gershwin box you get all three Boult versions on EMI 1945,1966 and 1978

[Barbirollians]

Did DON mention stokowski ? Uranus sounds like a Disney score in his hands !

[cloughie]

Did DON mention stokowski ? Uranus sounds like a Disney score in his hands !

Disney sound like any other version then. I’ve not listened to it lately but I think early reviews criticised his tinkerings with orchestration. It was an early MFP LP suiting the pockets of students!