Holst: The Planets; Raitio: Moonlight on Jupiter

Featuring

Nicholas Collon
Helsinki Chamber Choir
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Gustav Holst
Väinö Raitio

Did you know?

1/7

Composer Biography

Holst's practical experience as an orchestral musician, playing piano, violin, and trombone, was invaluable to his imaginative orchestration.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Väinö Raitio's music was considered very modern for his time, characterized by a highly sensitive ear for tonal color and idiosyncratic orchestrations.

Composer Biography

Väinö Raitio, a Finnish modernist composer, lived an interesting life, studying in Moscow before the October Revolution and in Berlin during the Kapp Putsch.

Recording & Production

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, led by Nicholas Collon, has won the Gramophone Award three times for its recordings.

Composition History

Gustav Holst's best-known work, The Planets, was inspired by a conversation about astrology with his writer-friend Clifford Bax in 1913.

Compositional Technique

The Planets is scored for a very large orchestra, including instruments like bass flute, bass oboe, and tenor tuba, and a 6-part female chorus for the final movement.