Holst/Matthews: The Planets (Hyperion Helios Audio CD)

When Gustav Holst composed his celebrated suite The Planets during the First World War, the solar system was
bounded by the orbit of Neptune (‘The Mystic’ in Holst’s astrological subtitle)—which Holst naturally placed at the end
of his masterpiece. It was not until fifteen years later that American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, trying to find the
reason for peculiarities in Neptune’s orbit, realized that there was another planet further out whose gravitational pull
was influencing it. And so was discovered the dark, remote and mysterious world of Pluto, named after the King of the
Underworld. The discovery was made but three years before Holst’s death, but he never expressed any intention of
adding it to his by-then famous work. Sixty years later, invited to do so by The Hallé Orchestra, the challenge was taken
up by Colin Matthews whose Pluto—The Renewer emerges eerily from the disappearing final bars of ‘Neptune’. This is
the first recording of Holst’s Planets with the additional planet, sumptuously recorded by Tony Faulkner in
Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall.
The CD also includes Holst’s late Lyric Movement for viola and chamber orchestra, written in 1933, the year before the
composer died.
‘This disc is a highly desirable addition to anyone’s collection’ (BBC Music Magazine)