Holst, The Planets

Holst, The Planets

Venus: I liked the horn solo at the beginning. It is very peaceful and the monophonic texture is effective. The chords in the woodwind worked really well and I thought the imitation of that in the strings after the second horn solo was very good, the different timbres helped it to sound magical.
I thought the use of the piano dynamics was really good and the crescendo into the second horn solo was good because it made it varied.
I loved, loved, loved, the oboe solo at the key change and it thought it sounded so pure and beautiful. The syncopation in the woodwind made the piece varied and, to my surprise, it was not out of place or inappropriate. The cello solo, which was an imitation of the oboe solo sounded really good and I was happy that Holst did not write it an octave or two lower, I enjoyed the leap and the- almost- gliss to that top note.
The chromatic chords in the strings was very interesting because
1) the strings were in eight parts, homophonic texture
2) it was "piano"
3) the passing modulations made it sound mysterious
At the end of the piece I really liked the triplets, I think it was, in the second violins and the vibraphone. It really did make it sound like Venus, the Bringer of Peace.

Uranus:
The forte brass notes were a very good introductory line for The Magician. The "piano" basson part was very good; the rhythm was interesting. I liked how the strings took over from that and the time signature changes work really well and suit the title of the piece.
I liked the playful pizzicato in unison with the oboe. The horn and violins at the forte gets really wild and the marcato cello and syncopated instruments gave a real edge to the piece.
My favourtie part was when the crescendo into the fortissimo second theme of the piece where almost the whole orchestra was in unison and the bass instruments provided a bass line which fit really well with the melody.