BBC2 The Planets: Holst

[ardcarp]

...with, er, Brian Cox. Is this going to be earthbound?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005prm

[BBMmk2]

Very good programme yesterday evening. I’m surprised it’s not been talked about more. I’ve worked with Ben Gernon and reminded how good it was too. He did a very good interpretation of The Planets with the BBCSO.

[Cockney Sparrow]

We turned on the TV at the end of a day of travel and were amazed to find a programme with symphonic music on the BBC. I was resistant to Brian Cox at first but have to say I was won over. It was well done

[ardcarp]

It improved as it went on. I thought the beginning of Mars had been deliberately made less 'menacing' in line with Cox's views. After that, things improved, though I must say I would have preferred the programme to have been a straightforward replay of the Barbican concert (where I agree Cox spoke very well) without those cutaways to rehearsals where the conversation was stilted and the orchestra looked bored!

A big plus was that all the visuals were of genuine photos of the planets (from telescopes and space-exploring satellites) and not the whooshbangflash computer-generated rubbish that accompanied Cox's BBC science programmes.

Incidentally, could anyone see if the women's voices were present in the hall for Neptune? (I was watching on a tiny screen.) Or were they offstage or even linked in from a remote location?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Hasn’t this been on before?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Incidentally, could anyone see if the women's voices were present in the hall for Neptune? (I was watching on a tiny screen.) Or were they offstage or even linked in from a remote location?

No sign of them on screen, but they aren’t supposed to be visible.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Hasn’t this been on before?

I thought that - but there's no record of it on the Website (where they used to mention when a programme had last been broadcast). The programme was mentioned when the "new schedules" were fanfared by Alan Davey earlier in the year - and I did wonder if that might have been where I thought I might have heard of it before.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I thought that - but there's no record of it on the Website (where they used to mention when a programme had last been broadcast). The programme was mentioned when the "new schedules" were fanfared by Alan Davey earlier in the year - and I did wonder if that might have been where I thought I might have heard of it before.

I do remember hearing or seeing it before. Professor Cox’s comments were familiar too.

[ardcarp]

I'm sure it must have been a repeat..in the best BBCTV tradition. The Planets was given its 'private' premier in 2018, but its public first performane (complete) in 1920...I think.

Then there's this:

Holst Birthday Concert - Saturday, 21 September 2019 at St Paul's Girls' School, ... Performers include York2, John and Fiona York playing The Planets arranged by the composer for piano duet.


Maybe the school does a birthday concert every year.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I do remember hearing or seeing it before. Professor Cox’s comments were familiar too.

From a casual browse of the Internet, the concert was recorded last September [the Centenary of the premiere] at the Barbican. Was the event broadcast on R3? It's been on youTube since October:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ztfplNmj2w

[Bryn]

From a casual browse of the Internet, the concert was recorded last September [the Centenary of the premiere] at the Barbican. Was the event broadcast on R3? It's been on youTube since October:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ztfplNmj2w

Quick bit of editing there.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Here it is/was:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000kfx

On Radio 3

[NatBalance]

I've watched this now and I thought it was wonderfull, and Brian Cox did an excellent job …. EXCEPT …. yet again, the ending of Neptune was not done properly. I heard the choir stop! Why is it that no one GETS the ending of Neptune?

There seems to be a terror of silence when it comes to this piece, or a rush to finish. Normally musicians realise the value of silence in music, but for some reason when it comes to Neptune they draw a blank on the matter. The whole point of the ending of this piece is that, as pointed out in the score "This bar is to be repeated untill it is lost in the distance". The key word being 'LOST'. If you hear the singing stop it does not get lost.

I think Holst also said that the music is to fade untill you know not when the music ends and the silence begins. A brilliant way of explaining it. Well, I certainly knew when the music ended and the silence began in this and most performances I have ever heard, including two live performances.

The choir are supposed to walk slowly away and the stage door slowly closed. I presume they walk in their stocking feet and that they are also supposed to sing quieter and quieter. I would imagine it is a difficult thing to achieve, because how can the choir master know when the audience cannot hear them anymore? But surely in this day and age we should be able to accomplish that perfectly.

[NatBalance]

Well, if Holst had composed a suite based on the knowledge they had then of the planets, which I think was not much more than specks of light …. would we be discussing it now?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Well, if Holst had composed a suite based on the knowledge they had then of the planets, which I think was not much more than specks of light …. would we be discussing it now?

??? When you say "they had then", I'm not sure who you mean by "they": Holst's contemporaries in 1913 (a wee bit more than "specks of light"), or the traditional astrologers from ancient times?