Program Notes by Lucinda Mosher, Th.D.

When, in 1915, Gustav Holst set to composing what he titled simply Seven Pieces for Large Orchestra, he had recently become enthralled by astrology. Each movement of this new work would be a tonal portrait of a planet’s psychological influence. The suite was completed in 1916. Its official premiere was in 1920, but portions were performed earlier. Our concert today features the first, second, and fourth movements.

Having opened with a spritely flourish, Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity proceeds with a series of jaunty, syncopation-laced tunes and fanfares. In this movement, Holst alternates such busy passages in duple meter (“one-two, one-two”) with broader segments in triple (one-twothree)—some of which accelerate fiercely and one of which offers up a truly magnificent melody played by the strings. In 1921, this Jupiter melody took on a life of its own when Holst paired it with a poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice, thus creating the British patriotic hymn, “I vow to thee, my country.”