On an Overgrown Path has put up a flattering piece pairing me with Gustav Holst on account of our shared astrological concerns. Even nicer, this Sunday (our Independence Day on this side of the Pond) host Bob Shingleton is going to present a radio show comparing four of Holst’s Planets with the same four of mine – and, in a gentlemanly touch, he is leveling the playing field by playing Holst’s not in the usual technicolor large orchestra version, but in a rare two-piano version (that I’d love to hear). Holst strikes me as having been a nice man, and I think he would have welcomed the friendly competition from a little-known newcomer.
When Worlds Collide
July 2, 2010 By
Where’s the radio show going to be? Would love to hear it!
Congrats!
KG replies: Following the links on his post, I guess it’s here:
http://www.futureradio.co.uk/
Congratulations. I just read of this on On An Overgrown Path. I’d love to hear this, but I cannot. I suppose I’ll have to buy the cds.
KG replies: Well, let’s not do anything rash.
Kyle, many thanks for the heads up.
To confirm, the webcast can be heard at http://www.futureradio.co.uk/Future.m3u
There should be a podcast post-broadcast here -http://futureradio.co.uk/people/bobshingleton0
And one tiny point. The piano arrangement of Holst’s Planets being used in the programme is four hands, one piano, not two piano. This arrangement really throws a different light on the old orchestral warhorse.
The CD of the four handed Planets is available as a download and should not be missed -
http://www.amazon.com/Planets-Piano-4-Handed-Holst/dp/B000058UUS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1278163912&sr=1-2
I remember hearing the 2 piano version once — theres a version with Richard Rodney Bennet and Susan Bradshaw:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=19136
It is wonderful and quite surprising. Holst did the reduction himself (published in 1949).
There are some videos of performances, starting with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBZuiB1pt0M
So, where’s your two piano version?
Congrats on the broadcast! Your sense of Holst the man squares with everything I’ve read. He was a much-loved teacher. St. Paul’s Girls’ School even built him a special sound proof room so he could maximize his all-too-limited composing time. And in the ‘Worlds Colliding Dept.’ there’s a Michigan connection too. In 1923 Holst came to the U.S. to lecture at the University of Michigan. Maybe he handed his postcards home to Ashley’s dad.