ROCCO PRIOLETTI
Staff Writer
“When you hear these two pieces together, some resemblances are probably going to strike you right away,” Rossen Milanov, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra’s principal symphonic conductor and music director, said ahead of Gustav Holst’s behemoth orchestral suite The Planets. Prefacing Holst’s seven-movement epic is yet another exploration of space, albeit from a galaxy far, far away — John Williams’ “Main Theme” from “Star Wars.”
From the opening movement of Holst’s suite, titled “Mars, the Bringer of War,” remnants of what would later inspire Williams’ “The Imperial March” can be heard in their piercing, menacing orchestra hits. Despite their similarities, the two pieces approach space differently; whereas Williams’ relationship to the planets revolves more around their unfounded adventure and spectacle, Holst’s fascination resides within their mythological ties.
The most important thing to know about this piece is that, originally, it wasn’t really intended as a description of each one of the planets in a more decorative way,” Milanov said. “But, it’s got more to do with astrology and Holst’s fascination with the idea that each planet represents a certain temperament and a certain tendency.”
Factual accuracy was not of utmost interest to Holst when composing the suite. Milanov noted that the movements, each corresponding to a planet, are not arranged according to their true distance from the sun. Instead, Holst’s placements work to “create a certain musical contrast in between all of them.”
Milanov noted that each planet is represented with a distinctive rhythm flowing throughout the undercurrent of each movement. He relates this aspect to Ravel’s “Boléro,” where “something starts at the beginning and then it continues throughout as a unifying factor.”
“More or less, as we progress through the movements, you see different aspects of a one-hour suite that is based on contrasting movements, alternating in a different and very creative way,” Milanov said.
Since its debut performance in 1918, Holst’s suite has remained as a guiding voice for composers soundtracking their interstellar journeys on the silver screen. Now, at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Amphitheater, the CSO brings the celestial music of Holst and Williams down to Earth for the night.
The sheer vastness of space is echoed in the CSO itself.
“The other thing to know about the piece is that it uses an unusually large orchestra, and it’s going to be one of the largest orchestras that we have for the summer here in Chautauqua,” Milanov said.
The number of musicians only increases as the suite progresses. During the final movement of Holst’s The Planets — dedicated to “Neptune, the Mystic” — singers from Chautauqua’s vocal program will accompany the CSO on the choir loft.
“And that’s how the last movement ends — sort of traveling into space, you know? For a large symphonic piece of that proportion, it’s rare to have a soft and a kind of traveling-into-space ending,” Milanov said. “But, this is how the piece ends, and I think it’s quite beautiful.”
