Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age, The Planets, Holst

Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age:

The notes played 'piano' by the flutes and harp were not diatonic, which immediatey imposed the unsettling atmosphere of the piece. I thought that the way the basses crept in created more suspense and this became even harder to listen to as the syncopation was introduced. Each instrument enters offbeat, easily recognised by the oboe entry, which was imitated by the violins at a louder dynamic. Then the cor anglais has the tune, followed by the horns, so we could see a clear progression and structure.The flutes and harp do not change for a long time, creating an ostinato effect until the basses and cellos take over with their more proceeding pizzicatos. The Horn had a really good timbre for the piece and the melody was slightly easier to listen to.
I really liked the almost stretto used as the first violins entered followed by the seconds who played with the oboe. The cresecendo was really effective and the increasingly amount of vibrato used in the strings gave it a really rich sound, in contrast to the purposely unhealthy and weak sound created by the flutes at the beginning and later on when they get the melody, accompanied by pizz in the lower strings. The texture remains homophonic even as the harp enters and woodwind. Then, the brass, at an even louder dynamic, come in with the same melody. There is tension as the brass crescendo and eventually belt it out whilst the rest of the orchestra play crotchets on beat 2 and 4. What made that really effective, was that when the brass first entered, they played, diplomatically, if you like, or stately but then it became really aggressive and more and more in your face. I really loved this moment of the piece.
The syncopation makes it very difficult to listen to, but I really enjoyed it, and the climax was amazing. The tublar bells really stood out in the music, despite the melody in the lower brass.
The first violins play a few bars of quieter music to show it's over.
Again, syncopation is used between the flutes and the harp. Shortly after, a polyphonic texture is created with flutes having one tune and the brass playing the melody at a soft dynamic. Then the violins come in quitely as well.
The ending is unusual, well it's not how you would expect it to be. The violins playing in their higher register made it floaty and peaceful. The texture was more or less homophonic with the woodwind sustaining their notes too. Perhaps this was reflecting old age and the representing the more peaceful side of it and tranquility.