Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Holst: The Planets; a new take on things....

WARNING: Much bragging ahead, 'cause I'm proud and all that...
So yonks ago when I was looking for "reference" material to listen to to really appreciate my new (then-2006) Axiom M80 based HT, one of the suggestions was Holst: the Planets - Thanks, JohnK!!. So I got it, listened to it. Didn't really appreciate the depth and clarity and complexity of the music. So I put the disc away and didn't think about it... until tonight. Out of the blue tonight, my daughter asks if I've heard "The Planets"... Why, yes!. Yes, I have!!

[This is the bragging part] A little background for those of you not among the cognoscenti; my daughter has been playing French Horn all of just less over 2 years now. Her favorite composer is John Williams. Her dream is to play in one of his orchestral recordings for a sound track. She is principal horn in everything at her school, just pulled off 2nd horn for Honor Band at Georgia's Mid-Fest clinic, and is the youngest player at The ASO Community Brass Ensemble - basically 2 hours of pro-level sight reading each week - and she holds her own. She is called out more than the rest, but she is also the youngest by 10+ years, and 20-30 yrs in most cases, and they are retired pro, or current semi-pro, or band director at a local school.
[Bragging OFF]

So I sat her down in the middle of the couch and started the disc - luckily I have M22 in walls - and cranked it up... she grabbed her phone to look up the disc info and tried to find sheet music... "Oooooooo, all 189 pages of score are available FREE!!"

Then I noticed that Close Encounters -AND- Star Wars were included and I thought she was going to lose it...

We really need a like button.

Scott, I'm astonished that it took about 10 years and your daughter's prompting to reintroduce you to this glorious, thrilling music, but better late, etc. She sounds like a terrific young talent and you're understandably proud of her. She may not be aware that John Williams has said more than once that listening to The Planets greatly influenced him to become a composer.

There are several sections in which the French Horn has a prominent part and she'll be able to enjoy this even more by following the score and playing.

The version by Mehta with the LA Philharmonic that I recommended here is still my favorite of the seven that I own and the 20 or so that I've listened to. Still available here on Amazon at super-bargain prices around a couple dollars for new and used discs.