The music of Gustav Holst, primarily The Planets, has influenced the writing and orchestration of film, video game, and contemporary composers of the 20th and 21st century. While Holst may not be the only major influence on the modern composer, his writing techniques, and ideas can be heard beyond The Planets. To understand why he has been so influential, we must look a bit into his background as a composer and what his visions were in his music.
Gustav Holst was an English composer of the late 19th and early 20th century. As a child he grew up playing the violin, which he hated, as well as the piano (Taylor). Gustav struggled with music all throughout his early life. He tried piano, and composition, but eventually landed his first job as a choirmaster in 1893. Soon after giving it another go at composition, Gustav’s father agreed to send him to Music College where Holst studied composition. He became obsessed with the music of Wagner and Bach and he decided to take up trombone in order to play in orchestras and experience this music first hand (Colin). Throughout college Holst continued to compose and even one a scholarship for doing so. While these early pieces were never performed publicly, they helped him build lifelong friendships in the music world. Being very open Holst explored music and ideologies from all over. His second major work was an opera that was based on Sanskrit teachings that he translated himself (Taylor). Holst wrote various compositions and continued to expand his knowledge of orchestral music. It was in 1914 that his most notable works, the Planets was written. The first piece he wrote, “Mars, The Bringer of War” signaled the outbreak of WWI. This seven-piece orchestral set was nothing like anything else at the time. There had been other multi-piece thematic movements by Strauss, Debussy, and Stravinsky, but none to this scale. It was at the same time Holst discovered the music of Stravinsky that he began work on The Planets (Colin). The entire work took three years to compose in total. Holst recorded the early performances of his piece with the LSO, back in the early twenties, something that some film composers still do. The Planets is a seven-movement piece, with each piece signifying one of the main planets, excluding Earth. The pieces that have been borrowed most frequently by other composers are “Mars, The Bringer of War, and Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity.” These pieces to me stand out from the rest of the work for many reasons such as the chordal harmony, the melodies, and just the texture created. It’s not so much that you’re visualizing a planet in space, but envisioning a full-fledged cinematic experience in your mind’s eye. Holst himself saw the piece as a journey through life, from the creation of life itself to life’s end (Lace).
The first composer we will look at in regards to “The Planets” is John Williams. John Williams not only borrows from Holst, but from Debussy, Mahler, and other Romantic composers. One could write about these others instances but today we will just look at Holst’s influence on some of John William’s music. The first song and most memorable for each is Mars, and the Imperial March. Right off the bat we hear very similar rhythmic ostinati. The snare parts and percussive accents are a war march (IMSLP). One could argue that all marches after a while will sound alike and there is truth to that. However, as the brass does volume swells and plays a counter melody, we notice that both do the same dynamically. There are other parts where the horns and drums sync with brash hits as well. The melodies however are different. That is important. For all matters, it was like John Williams was doing a sound alike, which is something asked of film composers all the time. It is possible that Holst’s piece was used as temp music for Star Wars so John Williams wrote his own piece that would reminisce parts here and there.
John Williams is not the only composer to borrow thematic material from Mars. Arguments have been made about Hans Zimmer, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, and Howard Shore all borrowing from this piece. At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with this. While some instances may be inherently blatant more so than others, copying stylistically is something composers have been doing since the days of Bach. By learning the material of those before you and trying to write in that style is one significant way to learn how to compose. Everyone from Mozart, to Brahms, to Beethoven, Wagner, Stravinsky, and many more have all used elements of their teachers in their own work. Learning by copying is what humans do. It is not that we are copying to steal or rob someone of intellectual property, but copying who we admire to understand the how and why of their work.
For a moment let’s look at Hans Zimmer. Hans falls directly into the copying territory when we look at one of his themes for Gladiator. The piece called Barbarian Horde, as well as many of the battle sequences features a simple chromatic melody on brass that gives us this exotic sense of danger and power. In this case the melodies are almost identical; the rhythm is just a little different. Hans Zimmer changed the rhythmic values a bit more than John Williams but the melody is quite obviously similar in both. Both feature strong brass. While that little chromatic motif passes rather quickly in Mars, signaling the build up before a battle, Hans draws out that idea and plays with it to make it like an ostinato underlying other instruments. In either case, the piece Mars is a war like tune and considering the Planets names are Roman in origin, without ever having seen Gladiator, it would be easy to pin parts of that score to sounding like part so Mars as the writing style and instrumentation denote classical images of battle. If we look to films like the Lord of the Rings, or Alien, we will hear very similar use of brass and percussion. Did they learn this from Holst? Maybe. Film scorers listen to music from all over the world and from all time periods to create an internal database of sonic knowledge. Holst is definitely in there but it can be hard to pinpoint certain pieces to his exact influence. Rather it may be easier to see those who inspired Holst in other’s music as well, such as Wagner, Strauss, Mahler, and Ravel. Jumping over to Bill Conti briefly, we hear parts from the Planets in the film, “The Right Stuff.” This movie is about the first astronauts so in this case it was intentionally used to fit the picture. Other space documentaries have also done this where it is easier to license parts from Holst than have a composer go and write up all new material.
Another area of modern composition would be the realm of video game audio. Here composers may score short cinematic sequences or actually build interactive music that changes based on in game or player actions. Holst’s music can also be found here. Some games have just put sections of “The Planets” into the game. While never using the whole piece they would use mainly short motifs or the ending to a specific movement. Again, the favorites are Mars, and Jupiter. Holst’s music has been in use in the video game medium for 30 years spanning consoles from the commodore 64 all the way to the PlayStation 4. I don’t think Gustav ever imagined devices like a computer playing back his music through virtual instruments in software. Both Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Galaxy feature parts of the drum pattern from Mars in order to convey a tough level full of enemies (Swerve). Now just copying a rhythm, does that make it Holst’s rhythm? The answer can be hard to find because obviously the writers had listened to Holst’s music at some point or another. A lot of times composers may unintentionally rewrite something they have heard and liked. Listening to the games myself I didn’t immediately go, oh they copied Holst, but the similarities are there. In other instances, the music from Holst has been exactly implemented in games and similar media; even certain commercials (Swerve). One of the most famous video games to feature a snippet of Holst besides Mario, is Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. In the game, the song, Lost Woods is an ABABA style short piece with the A theme based off of one of the motifs in Jupiter. In Jupiter, around the 6 minute mark is a motif that is a new upbeat motif that was alluded to earlier in the piece featuring horns and then played by the whole orchestra. It sounds folk-like in nature and I presume that is why Koji Kondo chose it for inspiration. The harmony is a bit different for the piece in the Zelda game, but just like Zimmer’s Gladiator and Mars, the similarities are undeniable. In an interview with Koji Kondo he stated that he loves developing pieces around a strong melodic idea and will let music he enjoys to influence his writing in developing such motifs.
Holst’s “The Planets” have also crept into the realms of contemporary rock, experimental music, and new age compositions. Composers such as King Crimson and Frank Zappa have elaborated on pieces of “The Planets” sparking new arrangements and improvisations for the work itself. Heavy Rock bands including Rainbow and Black Sabbath have also featured Mars in their stage performances due to its heavy drum parts and brash chords. Here we see that the modern composer looks past the classical background and takes the idea like a glob of clay. It is the same clay from Holst but the end product will look and sound completely different. I cannot imagine Venus at a shoegaze show, or Mars at a metal show but I can believe it. The modern composer is someone who dives into all music and learns music in a worldly way. This is what Holst did and can be a substantial reason why “The Planets” can be heard as a timeless piece, just as the great works from those he admired.
Classical musicians and the modern composer share some of the same struggles with Holst. Holst, like many popular artists of their day, grew to dislike the only work that people associated with. In a sense, The Planets was Holst’s pop song, or album that everyone wanted to hear. People couldn’t get enough of it and he got sick of it. Just like today any modern artist does not always want to perform that one hit single because they have written way more work and may even feel stronger about the other work. In either case, look at the composers who have borrowed from Holst. The songs that feature Holst-esque writing are some of their most popular and remembered music. When people think of John Williams one of the top things they sing in their heads is the Imperial March theme. So, even 70 years later, music that is associated with Holst has the same effect. Does John Williams always want to be associated just for Star Wars and Jaws? The same can be said for clichés. Holst would have incorporated some minor clichés of Stravinsky and Debussy into some of his music. In turn it appears that his war marches and happy uplifting themes from “The Planets” have inspired some new clichés of their own. All over film music there exist so many clichés for every type of emotion and scene. At some point, a new composer will come along and break that, and in turn his or her new style will emanate some sort of cliché (Morley).
As mentioned before, defining the modern composer is someone who looks to music in a worldly sense. This means they do not discriminate just because something is new or foreign to their ears or musical taste. It is important to go out and explore the world both physically and sonically. Playing around with instrumentation can also broaden your horizons. I’m not saying everyone needs to go and play a multitude of various instruments but at least familiarize oneself with different instruments and styles. The modern composer should look to Holst and his predecessors for one, their compositions, and two, their sense of exploring beyond the music they were taught in school or grew up with. Do not be afraid to try something new and experiment. A modern composer writes music that should be fulfilling to them. If it fulfills the senses of others then it is truly worldly.
Works Cited
"20 Greatest Classical Music Moments In Movies - CMUSE." CMUSE. N.p., 03 Sept. 2014. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
Colin Matthews. "Holst, Gustav." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 22 Oct.
Morley, Paul. "The Pull of Holst's Planets." Sinfini Muisc. N.p., 7 Aug. 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
Holst, Gustav. "The Planets." (1921): n. pag. IMSLP. Goodwin & Tabb, 1921, 2007. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
Holst, Gustav, 1874-1934. The planets, op. 32 [sound recording] / Holst. Cleveland : Telarc, p1986.
Lace, Ian. "4. Planetary Fame." Gustav Holst (1874–1934). Kenric Taylor, 2007. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
Taylor, Kennic. "(1914-16) The Planets Op. 32." Gustav Holst (1874–1934). N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
Swerve Covers Calgary Arts and Events. Where Have You Heard The Planets. N.p., Nov. 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.
