HOLST: The Planets Op. 32 / London Symphony Orchestra and Women’s Chorus conducted by the composer – Pristine Audio

by | Nov 7, 2008 | Classical Reissue Reviews | 0 comments

HOLST: The Planets Op. 32 / London Symphony Orchestra and Women’s Chorus conducted by the composer – Pristine Audio PASC131; 43:36 ***** www.pristineclassical.com  (download or actual CD-R available):

Gustav Holst (1874-1934) wrote the suite, The Planets, between 1914 and 1916, though Mars, the bringer of War was completed before the outbreak of WW1. Inspired by astrology rather than astronomy, the characters of the seven planets were set to music in such an original way that the suite has long been high on the list of favourites for many listeners to classical music.

Holst uses a large orchestra, though as with Mahler, there are so many passages of transparent and subtle orchestration and the variety of sounds has captivated audiences since its public premiere under Albert Coates in the Queen’s Hall in 1920. There had been a private performance there paid for by the wealthy Henry Balfour Gardiner  in 1918 with a reduced Queen’s Hall orchestra conducted by Adrian Boult.

Holst made two recordings of the suite with the LSO, beginning the first on 27 October 1922 at Petty France Studios. Those who know about the history of recorded sound will realise that microphones came into use in recordings only from 1925 on, so the recording here was made using acoustical horns.

Fear not! Aaron Z. Snyder has done the most superb job in restoring these old sides, and the quality of sound he has got out of the grooves is really quite astonishing. The orchestra may be a little smaller than that used today, but the overall impression is not far from that. The orchestra doesn’t have the plush upholstery of one of today’s top bands, but in many ways, the transparency Holst achieves in this recording allows us to hear an almost unbelievable amount of detail.

There is a generous amount of bass; Mr. Snyder has rescued far more than I imagined possible. The treble is, it is true, somewhat restricted, but certainly not so much to reduce one’s pleasure in listening to this recording. A generous sample is available for audition on Pristine Audio’s website; I listened to both the excellent straight mono transfer and the one with ambient stereo which can make listening with headphones much more enjoyable. Through speakers, the ambient stereo added just what it says on the tin, a little more ambience; the orchestral sound is unaffected and remains static, there being none of that wandering about that the old electronic re-channeling process could produce.

The first disc to be recorded contained Jupiter; these sides gave Mr. Snyder some problems to overcome, and these he has achieved with the most musical of editing. Pristine Audio’s website contains many details about the restoration which make fascinating reading. Holst completed the recordings the next year, in 1923, though Saturn and Jupiter were redone in 1925. Holst then re-recorded the whole suite using the electrical process in 1926 – issued several times on CD most recently using Mark Obert-Thorn’s restoration on Naxos.

The sound of the electrical recording isn’t hugely better than the acoustic one; indeed, there is sometimes more audible detail in this earlier one.  While Jupiter is more successfully performed in the later recording, Venus is surely better for sounding – less rushed – in this earlier one. Mars has plenty of power here, as do Saturn and Uranus with their respectively heavy and cheeky orchestrations. There are so many rewards in the little touches Holst brings to his own music, and the effect of the style of orchestral playing of the time is intriguing.

I recommend most highly this important historical release to all who love Holst’s most famous work; it belongs in your collection!

–Peter Joelson

Recorded in Petty France Studios, London, 1922-3
Engineered & produced by Arthur Brooks
Issued as UK Columbia 78s: L.1528, 1499, 1543, 1459, 1532, 1509, 1542
Matrix nos. AX.197-8, 136-7, 135; 75204-5, AX.199-200, 138-9, 205-6
Restoration and remastering produced by Aaron Z. Snyder, October 2008
Ambient Stereo processing by Andrew Rose

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