holst - r. capell

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Gustav Holst. IIIAuthor(s): Richard CapellReviewed work(s):Source: Music & Letters, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Jan., 1927), pp. 73-82Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/726193 .

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GUSTAV

HOLST-HIII

THE suite

"

The

Planets," composed

n 1914-1917, irst erformed

iti 1918 priv-ately,

nd in 1919 publicly, nd published

n

1921,

is I-Iolst's argest

iece of orchestralomposit,ion.

n

exceptionally

large orchestra

s called for, nd

the seven

movemiients

ake about

55 minultesn performance. .

. . .Holst

had composed eautiful

hingsn the mallestf musical

shapes, buithe

was naturally y

no miieans miniaturist,nd in

listening o

"

The Planets

"

one

is convinced f the zest with which

he

musthave thrownimselfnto

vast undertaking. his time he

frame

was

to

be as big as he chose, and he would

deny himself

nothing e wanted

n the way of

material.

Other

menwere

demanding

normousrchestras.

Strauss,

Mahler

and kch8nbergt entfrom uxuryo luxury n numbersnd extras.

Since theywere

o

be

had Holstwould emand hem oo-and justify

the demand y

proving hemnot

extravagant,utthe proper utfit

forhis enterprise.One motive

n

his

mind

this

s our guesswork)

mayhave been

the

conviction

hat he knew

a

right way

with

orchestral

umbers-he ould howhow multiplication

eed not

ead

to

muddiness.

The subject,

ummed

p

in a title

whose

xcellence

s

part

of the

excellence

f

the

whole,

s

nothing

ess

than

the principia

f

life,

in so faras it was given o our author'sgaze to survey hem nd

to the

method f

his art to

represent

is vision.

"

The

Planets"5

are the elements

f

our

humanity,

r

Holst's

choice

of

the

chief f

them.

The

naming,

r

not

naming

f a

piece

of

music,

s

a

part

of theactual chieving

f

ts

composition.

A

title

s

likely

o narrow

the

range

f the

music's

mport,

nd

at the same time o

give

vivid-

ness

to someparticular

ntention.

The

composer

akes

his

choice,

and

to

take

the

wrong

hoice

s a fault f

composition.

Not hereor anywherelse did Holstdependon thedevelopment

of

the

title

nto he

"

programme."

He was

young

t the

moment

when

Strauiss's

xample

was at its most

bewitching,

ut he

managed

to

avoid

the confusion

f

musical

with ther

rgument.

For all the

*

Extract

from

Chapter

III.

of

a

"

Study

of

Holst," Chapter

I. of

which

appeared

in

MUSIC

AND

LETTERS, April

and

October,

1926.

t

Strauss's

" Hero's

Life,"

1899.

Schonberg's

"

Gurrelieder,"

1900-1910.

Mahler's

Eighth

Symphony

"

The Thousand

),

1908.



74

MUSIC

AND

LTETTERS

most

amusing

and

brilliant

urnis

f

his art Strauss

had

to thank

the

stimulus

of

the

ext-ernalworld.

Narrative

and

visual

impressions

jogged

his

fancy,m-lucho the reliefof the expressionof the inner

Strauss,

which wiould

of

it-self

hiave

lacked

interest.

Ther

was

never

a

musician

for

whom-

the

visible

world

meant

more.

No

reproach

s

to

be

nade

of

it

the

muisician

as

as

mubch

right

s

the

poet

to

all

that is.

But

Strauss

has

at times

not

half

transmuted

he

outside

elemnents.

Inconsequential

sounds

occur

in

his music,

and

the

excuse

when

offered

rofesses

no concern

with

musical

logic,

but

takes

the

form

of

a legend

in

the

score

or

in

the

concert

programme.

The

esthetic

theorydid not work,because, in short, ookingand listening s not

the

same

thing

as

reading

and

listening.

So

far as

his

symphonic

poems

have

held

the

field

t

is because

the

author's

sheer

musical

impulse

has

often

managed

to

get

clean

away.

If

the

nmusical

orm-ii

f

this

composition

of

ITolst madee a-I

itle

necessary,

thle

breadth

of

thle

ntention

called

for

one

that

shoilld

be

no restrictionl

on t;he

magination.

Well,

the

title chosen

conlld

hardly

have

been

broader,

the

mnore

ince

the planets

were

here

not

to be thought f physically r even in theirmythologicalssociations,

but

in their astrological

ignification.

Thev

are

the

stars

that

shape

ouir ourses.

Do

not

let

us

solenmily

ake

Holst

for

ani

astrologer.

He

would

not

make

an orthodox

ne.

He

leaves

out

some

of the

chief

celestial

forces

and includes

two planets

not

known

to

classical

astrology

(Uranus

and

Neptune).

His

title

muist,

of

course,

be

taken

as

a

poetic

value.

Such

symbolic

terms-like

Dante's Moon,

the

heaven

of

the Inconstant,

his

Sun

of

the

Prudent-represent

the

most

wondroushuman ability,that of fixing, mid the welterof physical

things,

on

certainunchanging

truths

of the

spirit,

the

platonic

ideas,

in fact.

Though

no one

may

share

Dante's

view

of

the

physical

heavens,

his

poetic

truth

remains.

Here

is,

indeed,

one

of

the

vital mysteries

llustrated,

n

the

modern

artist's

resorting

o

the

old

symbols

for

the

purposes

of

his

synthesis.

The

planets,

then,

are

the

influences

f

destiniy

nd

the

con-

stituents

f

our

spirit.

The

artist

will

isolate

those,

onstituents,

nd

mould

his

separate

images

of them.

So

far

from

his

day's

work

consisting

f

a

romantic

hase

afterhis night'sdreams,he sets about

it

like any

plain

craftsman.

He

has undertaken

a

big

job,

the

carving

of thisgreat

row

of granitegods,

but

he

feels

cheerfully

qual

to

it.

Self-expression

s not

in his

conscious

mind.

He

is

as

keen

and concentrated

n the

scowl

of

Mars

as

on

Venuss's

calm

brow.

It

is as though

by

incident

that

the,

pecial

vigouir

nd

mastery

of

this

workman

how

uip

n

thie

esultl.



GUSTAV

HOLST

75

HIolst's

well-known

aying

hat "

muisicians

xpress

n

sound

what

all mein eel," tells

us

with

implicity

hatwas to be

guessed

from

his art-lhow ittle his composer eliberatelyoncerns imselfwith

thepeculiarityf his experienea

nd

being.

But

however

aturally

theartist

may

asstume

hat

he

is

a

plain type

nd

thathis

outlooii

is the obvious

nd

general

one-however ittle

subjective

e

may

consciously e-his

workmust

define

him as

surely

s

though

he

wverehe

most ubjective f them

ll.

The very act f

his

engaging

in

such

an ar't

as

modernmulsical

composition eclares

an

individual

enterprise

nd a

radical sense

of

the seer's

special

gift.

"

The

Planets was

a

scheme

o

large

as to

require,

ike

anymajor

work

ofart,all thatthe composer newof " what ll menfeel." hIolst

was not

a

poet

of

the vory

ower.

At a time

when

the arts had

a

way

oftaking

hemsel,ves

ff

o

mysterious

etreats e was so

humble

and

so bold as to be

interested

n

the general

lot.

He

seems

oblivious

f

himself

n

hisearnest

rasping

t

thereal

truth f

things

-in his portrayingfthe sevell

overlordsf

man.

But

in

his

very

recognition

f

thesehe workshis own

analysis.

The heavens

are

never

the

same.

One

wheel of influenceeems

to

bless

or

ban

a

wjhole ge, while another ystem

hapes

the

personal

ot.

What

docs -Tolstee of the world t the convergingf his star-beams?

HTe

ees

brutality,nd

does

not underrate

t.

"

Mars

"

has

been

called

the

most

ferocious

iece

ofmusic

n

existence.

Composing

n

1914-15,

he staredhard

at

Mars.

Wha.t

he

saw

induced

him

into

no

flattery,

ut neither

was he

ng

to

complaining.

We shall

in

fc.et

ind

HoIstdoes not

complain.

He hewshis image f

Mars's bulk

a.nd

mercilessmaskwithouit

ove, certainly,ut with

sort f appre-

ciative

recognition.

t

is no

occasion-and

nor,

for

that matter, s

any

of his works

f

music-for

his private rievances.Withsome-thingof the temper f a disciplined portsman,ensibly toical,

Holst

all

along

refrained rom

ffecting oans. It

was not in his

nature,

nd

as such

could

not

be helped, ven though great rray

of

nineteenth

entury

omposers-Wagnernd Schumann like, and

Brahms

nd

Tchaikovsky-had

worked o persuade hat a personal

wail was the

very

heartof

miusic. Not

bv

Venus was

a wail to be

wrung rom

Holst;

nor

yet bv Saturn,bringing ld

age; nor yet

by

the

unresolved

mystery

f

the

outermostf his planets, he

suispendeduestionhat s the end of all things. There s something

of

antique

piety

n

his

observance

f the

gods,

who

though heydeal

to man

two vils

for

ne

good,

re not

to

be

charged

with

oolishness.

Was Holst

his

own

astrologist

r

not

when

he

attributedo

Venus

the

bringingr

f

peace?

Of

the other

Venus, tout

entiTre

n

sa

proie

atttachee,

e

admitsno

awareness. His Venus

wims

neffably

ild

intothe

evening ky,

nid

he

counlts

rom er

nothing

ut

blessings.

Vol.

VIII.

F



76

MUSIC,

AND

IE?TTERS

After

he

frightfulness

f

Mars,

her

coming

n

this

guise

has

an

exquisite

alue.

How,

we

ask

ourselves,

ould

the musical

cheme

have stood t if the seconddeity oohad presented erself-as in

unluckier

horoscopes-lot

with

destructiveniess,

the

flame

hat

made

of

Troy

ruinous

hinig

2

Another

rtist

might

a-ve

uinted

all

round

his

mindforsuch

a

principle

f

repose.

The

admirable

contrast

etween

he

first,

uto

f

"

The

Planets

cannot

be

passed

over

as

a

mnere

troke

f technical

ngenuity.

Such

things

prina

only rom

he

depths,

nd

they

uggest

ow

much

he

artist

s

truistee

rather

han

creator.

A

power

beyond

ontrol

as

allotted

his

dlis-

position.

To

him,

only

to

know,

not

to

make,

himiiself.

ow

was

implantedn ouiruibjectisspecial enseofthe mpersonalrimn-ess

ofwar

and

of

the

holyblandness

f ove?

The

honiour

o him

comes

from

is having

ooked

o straight

o

see

what

was within

imself.

The

success

depended

simultaneouisly

pon obscure

co-operative

forces

within,

f

which

ismiiind

as

notthe

chooser

ut

the

chosen.

Such

a

success

s

not

nalogous

o

a resuilt

f

the

processes

f

physical

evolution

nly

because

t is

part

fthe same

thing.

There

s another

oint.

For

severalgenerations-from

chubert

to " Salome -nearly all harpshad beentuned o tellof

romantic

love.

The

thing

had

been

overdone.

By

the time

of Strauss

nd

Schreker

herewas

a

well-knowln

rocedure

y

which

ny

technician

could

stir

up

what

was conventionally

aken

to

represent

oiling

passion.

The agitated

nmovement

nd pathetic

armonies

f

Schu-

mann

and Wagner

were

anybody's

everyday

ribute

to

Venus

Pandemos.

When

a

means

of

expression

ecomes

o

commonplace

the

artist

naturally

ooks

afreshnto

his

heart

to

find

correspon-

dence

with

eality.

What

s

this

ove? Debussy

would

nothave

it

thatit was necessarilyn affair f loud criesanidtumult. Holst

clearly

oes

niot llow

that

t

is

all

a fever

nd

a

craving.

There

s

nothing

f

Venus

Pandemiios

n his mnusic.

n

"

The

Perfect

ool

"

the

love-potion

orking

n the princess

rings

not

passion,

butt

dreamy

liss.

" All thinigs

ave,

nded

for

me.

I

am

at

peae,e.

No foe

canl

hurt

me.

Hell

cannot

reach mie.

I am

beyond

the

power

of evil ones."

Savitri's

ove, too,

is

blessed

by

the

high

Uranian

Venus.

"

When

thou

rt weary

am

watching,

hen

houl

sleepest

I am

waking,

when

in

sorrow

I

am

near .

.

In

the

pageant fthepoets n the last mnovementftheChoralSymphony

the

Passions,

"

a terrific

and,"

evoked

by Shakespearep

re

reflected

n the music

s merely

ctive

priteswithouit

pang

or

a

reproach.

Such

airv

and

untroublesome

nfluences

ere

all

along

generous

to our composer.

The

Mercury

of

"

The

Planets"

was

one.

Mer-

curv,

he

has told

us,

is

the

astrological

ymbol

f

mind.

And

the



GUSTAV HOI,ST

77

musichere flickersnd plays n a state

of disembodied

oy. Mind,

then,forhim s

not man's fearful

urden f awarenesshat ost us

innocence nd broughthe capacity or regret nd foreboding.t

is, says Mercury, ot thatwhich ufferingly

nowsmatter, ut that

which an overcome

matter nd makegood ts escape to

a sphere f

divineplayfulness.

In the meantime

ho so uingratefuls to deny he good

things

f

materialife? Not Tolst,

who s all for

cceptinghehonest leasures

in their eason. The splendid ourth

movemelnt

f

"

The

Planets"

might

ave

been

called an overture

or n English ountry estival.

On

this holiday,

on this green

meadow, all men are friends.

There s well-being,here re festal ong and cheerfulproar. No

supercilious

r

shrinking

oul couldhave thought f

this music. It

declares decided

ikingforcrowds,

t declaresopenhouse and a

welcome or all.

So far from ettinghimself bove the

common,

Holst musthave been

aggrieved

f

any

did

notfeel

ble

to enter nto

the spirit f the

thing,when he had been so readyto

make t all

plain,

himself;

s the music almosttruculentlyets

down, being

plain, and proud f it, knowing ow

his fellows elt nd

whatthey

liked.

The

fifth

lanet,

bringing ld age

"

that comes by nightas a

thief omes

hat

has

no heart

by

day," is a trial f courage ifferent

from the first,

but as searching.

This s the inevitablend the

inevitablyictorious

nemy. Shallwe desperatelylay

at blindness

at its approach? Shall we breakdown

t thethreat?Holst squares

himself o look

t

in

the face as steadily

s at trampling ars. He

notes

intently,

nd

what

he at first puts

down s simply

ard-

observed

escription-the

reakingdvance, erious

f

not

yet

errible.

It is, in fact,notto becomeutterlyerrible.Old age is seen as a

dispensation

oo

grave

for

smile,

but

also, precisely

ecause

nevit-

able,

notto be dreaded-not

o be allowed

o be dreaded. Give

way

at this

undermining

f

yourself,

nd

what

has

become f

yourpride,

yourdisciplined

emper?

It

is

no doubt

he most

difficult

art

of

the

whole

game.

The

more

reason,then,

to

play up

strongly-so

this

music

suggests,

with

ts

impassive

nd intent

registration

f

Saturn's

teps.

The reward

or

tanding

out is

that,

when the

inexorable as

invaded

your

soil

to

the

last

foothold,

omehow he

threatdissolves. Holst declaresthat he sees Saturn relent. The

besieger

nd the

besieged

oul

patchup

a

mysterious

greement,

celebrated

y

a

solemn

estival

ith

great

lamour f bells.

Humour

s the

compensation

orwhathas been

supposed

hewant

of

passionateness

n Holst. His

downrightness,

hich

might

have

been

forbiddingly

ustere,

is warmed

by laughter.

"

Jupiter

was

full of

it.

After

he stern

business

with

Saturn

he

is

ready

for



78

MUSIC

AND

LETTERS

Uranus

he

magician.

In magic

hehumorous

ye

cannot

elp

eeing

a joke.

The

magician

turns

things

topsy-turvy,

eaving

simple

naturepuzzled. Holst's sixthgod makes the mountains esound

with

his roaring

un.

He

might ave

been called

the godof

aughter

if after

point

heprodigiousness

f the

pranks

id

notpass

a joke,

turning

aughter

nto a sacred

wonder.

He

is a mighty

f

genial

magician.

The

whirlwind

s his

plaything.

This

is

he that

made

Behemoth.

The

last

planet wims

n mystery,

ess seen

than guessed t,

on

thefar onfines

four ystem.

What s

to

be madeof

t, theultimate

unknown,

y our peering

nto the

dark? ITolst

s not

able

to pro-

claim a conventionalpotheosis.The dark s dark, he questions

left open.

He,

the

downright,

ere

affirms

othing.

Only (says

the music),

n the

light

fwhat

has

gonebefore-since

he

sumof

things as

madefor

balance

f

good-eternity

hall

notaifright

s.

We stand

t

thebrink

fNeptune's

lood hat

tretches

way

from he

shoreof

time. For

honour's

ake

we may

not

fear,nor

yet

foster

unwarranted ortal

opes.

We

mayonlywonder

t

the

washof the

unanswerable

aves.

The generalmusicalworkmanshipf this ast movement,orall

that,

remained

he same,as

clean

and direct,

s in the

movements

of war and festivity.

The schemne

equired

rom

irst o

last

a bold

andsculpturesque

xecution,

aking

ot o

much or

ubtlety

s high

monumental

ffect. Granite

ndnot sandstone,

o to

speak,

was the

chosen

material,

nd the composer's

enius

was confidently

dapted

to

it

from

hevery pening

trokes

f

"

Mars."

Those trokes

eat

on a dominant

edal

n a 5-4metre

We

shall

find

uch

fives

nd sevelns ery

characteristic.

he effects

f

these

odd metres re two-an extension,nd a clipping hort. We feel

either

n

inserted

eat

making

or

anguorousness,

r the energetic

suppression

f

one. The

latter

s

much

the

more

characteristic

f

llolst.

The

down

eat

comes

utting

n

an instant eforets

expected

time,

as

though

mpatient

iththe

easy-going

ay.

In the

pedal

figure

f

"

Mars"

it is like a lash on

the

movement,

hich

ach

time

springs

nto

a

quaver

triplet.

It is at first

iven

out with

a

dry,

rattling

ound.

We

hear

the

wind nstruments

waking

nd

assembling

uring

ome

forty

ars.

Then,

to an

immense

hout

rom

all voices, it movesto the tonic and there continuesouder ts

arriere-ban.

I

olst

has no mind

o

spare

us. Thus

things re;

andnothing

an

mollify

is

obstinate

resentation.

He

fotnd

n the

repetition

f

an inflexible

igure

n effect

orresponding

o

his senseof the

forces

of

man's

inhumanity.

When

first id music earn

to create

collec-

tive

pirit

nknQwn

o

the

ndividual?

Song

s man's

personal

music



GUSTAV

HOLST

79

and sweet

friend.

Rhythm

s commlunal,

nd

a

tyrantto

the

individual,

hether

t throbs

n a parade

of Zulu warriorsr in

the

workshopsf Sheffield.

Of

this

subjugator

f free ife the Romantic

eriodcared

to

know

little.

Wagner,

or nstance,

enerallyvaded

t. One of

his rare

uses of

a rhythm,uch

as

we have n mind, s the 9-8 figure

f

the

hamnmering

f

the enslaved

Nibelungs.

Romance

s fain

to escape

into

a world

hat the

world's

not.

It dreams

f indulgent

assions

and impractical

anderings,

nd

preferso

shut

ts ears to

sounds

that ompel

bedience

f

thebody n

disregard

fthe

soul's

ongings.

In the

middle

romantic

music

of Wagner

nd Brahms

rhythmical

shapesweremitigatedr subtly roken p, and in generaldenied

theiroppressiveness.

At

its extremity,

s

in Delius

and

Scriabin,

they irtually

isappeared.

The rude

facts f xistence

ndthesocial

responsibilities

ereblotted

ut

by

clouds

of hallucinatory

eauty.

Rhythmmeans

rganisatioin,

nd music learly

ould

notbe

always

oblivious

f

such

prime ondition

f

ife.

Holst

came

with blunt

reminder.

At

his

moments

purely

songful

composer,

e

also

realised

he

vital strength

f

the other

music.

The remarkable

recognitionhathiswork ublicly eceiveds tobe putdownn good

part

o

the

deal

presentation,

elt

n its

rhythinic

nsistencies,

f

the

masterful

hrobbing'

achinery

f

mnoderin

ociety.

Correspondingly,

the hostility

t

met

with came

from

hose who detested

he

very

thought

f the duress

mposed

y

mass

movements.

uch may

be

the most

pugnacious

f spirits,

ut

their ighting

ust

ll

be

in

the

form

f

the onely ncounters

f

kniglht-errantry,

nd

they

esist

ooth

and nail

the

initolerable

oercion

of

the

communal

ummons

of

"

Mars."

Instinctively

nd

morally

hey

bhorred

he

awful

harnm

of the drum. Its recognitioneemeda concession o barbarism.

But

what

s, is. The

artist

hallnot

be forbiddeil

ny

of

his

percep-

tions

f the

real,

the

very

uelof

art;

and it

was

Holst'sstrength

o

feelwith ntensity

he barbaric

n the moderntate

and

the sudden

appropriateness

f a

barbaric

means

n a newmusic.

Drum-taps,

umbing

o tlhe elf, tir

n

impersonal

onsciousness.

In theclamour

he ones

succumb.

It is

the

pitiless

music

of social

cohesion

nd the defence

f

the aicial

life,

A

super-rationalower,

that

from

heages

of

pre-history

as

steeled he

ranks

nd files

of

the tribes f men throughnnumerablemarches nd martyrdoms.

It

has throbbed

n our

contemporary

ir

(to

thewords,

Who

dies

if

England

ives?"

or

the

like)-if

not

physically

udible

not less

vivid

for

hat,

nd to our musician's

ars

one of

the first

f

realities.

In

the

day

when

the

civilised

tates

had fallen nto

the

trampling

movement

f fierce

ameless

ordes

andedbyrhythm

o

a common

purpose,

t

was

natural

o think f

the music

of a

country,

ussia,



80

MUSIC

AND

LETTERS

where

brilliant

ultivationf the

arts had been n

contactwith

primitive

opulace.

The Russian

composers ave never

achieved

much n the wayof studious ndmelodicmusic,but theyhave had

a fund f suggestions

odrawupon

n thesusceptibility

f their

ace

to dancing

nd martial

measures. Balakirev

nd his

school,given

the example f

Liszt and

Berlioz, ttained o

a Western echnique,

but

not

to theWestern pirit

f the

time-whichn effect

mieant

he

meditative

nd

domesticmusic f he

Germans.

Theyhad a different

source

of savage vitality.

Their

comnpositions,

oming

West,were

taken

s

exotic

uriositiesr

else,

by the

guardianis

fpropriety,

s

a scandal. The

West thought

heindividual

afely ree.

It turned

out thatman wasnot to be so easily oosedfrom ircumstance.

If

the rhythmic

igure

f Holst's

"

Mars

"

is here dwelt

upon, the

reason s that

t is so significanit

nd typical

feature f his

art,

which

abounds

in

statements

f

the commands

from without

(Saturn's

two

grim

yllables

re another),

hat overrulehe power

ofthe elf'swill.

The insistences

not to be

put down oparti pris

in

Holst,

but tohis sheer

faithfulness

o his observation.

Whatcan

the willcount

orwhen

Saturn rdersyou nto

his stride?

But the

compulsionsonot trikeman as always, revenoften, rim. Again

and again Holst

showsgaily

how the dance

takes possession f

the

feet.

Mars

is neither

lorified

or denounced. Such

is

the

god's

summons,uch

the

compulsion-that

s all.

Between

he

savage's

imple

cceptanice

nd

the

stoic's

recognition

of

it as

unrejectable

here

s a world f experience,

ut

in

practice

such resemblance

hat,

when

t came o musical

tatement,

heaudi-

ence couldnot

altogether

issociate

olst

from

he Russian

xample.

Of

course,

s a

practicalmusician,

e was not

going

o rule out

any

serviceablexample. The artistsare a sort of priesthoodfthe,

Golden

Bough-theprecious

mblem

s there or

nyone

o take

and

uphold

as his own.

Plagiarism

s

an

entirely

ifferent

uestion.

Criticism

ust

be

allowed

o

point,

without

he

thought

f

aspersion,

to the succession

f holders f the sacred

mistletoe.

Such

pointing

and

the

grouping

f

names,

s when

we

connect

he chromaticism

f

Elgar

and

Delius

with

Parsifal,"

re

part

of ts

function

f

defini-

tion.

Grown

rtists

re

our

concern,

nd not

the

house

of

parrotry.

The music

n

whicli

no

contacts

re to be detected

an be

nothing

butmathematicalr lunatic.

" Mars

"

might quite

well

have

happened

without

ny

of

the

Russians.

Berlioz

perhaps

struck the

spark.

He made

famous

effects

y

compulsive

eiteration,

s in the ast movement

fthe "

Te

Deum."

The

point

s dwelt n becauseof the

surprise

olst

caused

by

a

violence

reviously

nknownn

English

music.

But such

con.



GUSTAV

HOLST

81

iectioins re

at most

merely

technical.

The

spirit

was

new, and

we

shall try

to

define t

as

the

suggestioni

f a

system

or

control

within

the inhumanforces. They press lhard,but not to the point of the

frenzy

of Berlioz

or Stravinsky.

This god

of

Holst

is

brutal

but

not

mad.

We

have

followed

him as

far as

the

assembling

of the

brass.

Trumpets

nd horns

come

out with

the principal

ubject,

which

eems

to lurch

under

the burden

of ts consecutive

riads.

All

must shoulder

it in turnl.

A

change

comes

when

the

rhythm

steadies

to

five

crotchets

in

a

bar.

The euphonium's

hollow

and unearthly

howl

starts a

clamour

of

fanfares.

There

comes

an instant

of suspense.

Then the " burden" is taken up anew. This time the voices are

largely

n

unison,

withthe

rhythm

resenlt,

ut

mitigated.

The

effect

s of

a

gigantic

roan.

It swells

ntolerably

ntil, nce

again,

down omes

therhythmic

ash,

cutting

harper

hanel7er,

with

he

trumpets

hrilling

ut

onithe

dominant

or

bar after

bar.

The

euphonium's

fan-fare

ecuIrs,

ut

shortened.

The

"

burdeni

is

piled

on

ruthlessly.

The

climax

omes

with

sort

of hoarse

roar

and a

terrific

rinding

f

G's

andAt's,

helped

ut

by

a blast

of the

organ.

Once s notenough or hespirit f fury. There s a half-stepack,

as

it were;

thenfive

timesand

six

the

monster

arks

to

empty

Heaven

defiance

r

imprecation.

The

admirable

hing

about

"

Mars

"

is,

of

course,

not

the

infernal

noise

n itself,

or nyone an

blast

us out

ofour eats

with is nstru-

mentation,

ut

the

style

that

controls

t. The

whole

s

rigorously

contained

by

art.

" Mars

" is therefore

ifferent rom

other

recent

extensions

f

the

dynamic

ange

of music.

It is

severely,

lassically

"

tidy,"

without ne

futile ote.

The

conception

s altogether

deal,

notrealistic. Fanfares nd all, it is martialpoetry, ot fact. In

reality

ugle-calls

elong

nly

to the camps

of

peace.

The

actual

music

fwar?

Hark backto it

on a

May

morning

ver

the

flats

of

Festubert.

Music

t

is,

but

baffling

ll its

diffuseness.

There

s some

vast

rhythmical

ounterpointoing

oni,

but the

ear

cannot

make

out

the

recurrences.

You

may

countup

to

15

strong

beats

or 50

in the

ncessant ettle-drumming,

ut thedesign

s

too

vast.

The

nearfield-guns

plit

he

air ike

rock

very

ow

nd then.

Yes,

but

ust

when?

The

notation

s

inconceivable.

Time

s

allowed

an impossiblextension,nd theirritatedar givesup theanalysis.

But there

s

unquestioniable

randeur

n the sound.

It is the

slowest

of

music,

lower

han

thesea. There

re

amazing

ontrasts

etween

thegeneral

umble

nd the

shatterinig

laps

of

report

nd

explosion.

Would

really

ngenious

musical ellow

tanding

ere,watching

he

unnatural

louds

mong

he

poplars,

e able

to make any

use of

the



82

MIUSIC

AND LETTERS

solnini hubbUb.

'Not

to anly

miiartial

ffect.

Mar's

owin

music

turlns

out unexpectedlyo be so littlewar-like.

t is more factory-like,

after ll. This s rather humiliationi estuberthisMaymorning

is merely usy; and the tranige

lusic

miountso nothiing uclimore

than the mnusicf

the

lianiineriing

nid ivetingf

shipyards

nd

foundries.

f Holst

had been

a realistic

omposer

nd had gone to

war's owvn

ounids

or

nmusic,

herewouldhave been no Mars, but

Yulcan instead, n

"

The Planets.'

..

RICHARD

CAPELL.

holst - r. capell

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