Rexburg Tabernacle Orchestra to give free performance of Holst’s ‘The Planets’
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The Rexburg Tabernacle Orchestra, an all-volunteer group of performers, is giving a special free performance this Thursday, March 9 at the Tabernacle Civic Center in Rexburg.
This concert features selections from “The Planets,” a famous suite composed by Gustav Holst, as well as two other pieces by Holst.
“When Holst wrote this piece, he called it ‘The Planets’ but what he really did was write a piece based on the Greek gods for whom the planets are named,” Mark Seare, who will conduct the pieces from “The Planets,” told EastIdahoNews.com. “For instance, ‘Mars’ is subtitled ‘The Bringer of War’ and Venus is subtitled ‘The Bringer of Peace.’ Each of the pieces of the suite is very descriptive. ‘Uranus’ is ‘The Bringer of Magic’ or ‘The Magician’ and it sounds a lot like ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.’ You can just hear the mischievousness of the composer.”
Holst’s music has resonated with many people over time and has impacted the music of many composers, particularly film composers.
“Holst didn’t know it but he was kind of writing music for movies,” Seare said. “When he wrote ‘Star Wars,’ George Lucas went to John Williams and said ‘I would like this battle scene to sound like’ and then he would quote a classical music piece. And one of the pieces he quoted was ‘Mars.’ It sounds like it should be in a movie, over a galactic battle, or maybe in a World War 2 movie.”
“My favorite quote is ‘Music sounds like feelings feel,” he added. “These movements (in ‘The Planets’) feel so right on. When you think of war and how awful that would be and an oppressive army marching into our country, ‘Mars’ sounds just like that. And the ‘Bringer of Peace’ is such a beautiful, beautiful melody, with warm, gorgeous sounds. (Holst) just did such a good job of describing feeling musically.”
Seare will be sharing the podium with Rick Hansen and Dan North, retired Madison County music educators who will be two other Holst pieces: the “St. Paul Suite” and the “Suite for Military Band,” respectively. Collectively the three men have more than 100 years of experience teaching music to Madison County students and have massively impacted east Idaho’s musical culture. Miller said he’s fortunate to be in an area with so many talented musicians to work with.
“It is a huge honor,” he said. “There are some (of these players) who have doctorates on their instruments who would sit very well in a professional orchestra anywhere in the country. If you listen to some of the solo work, it’s absolutely incredible. So it’s a real blessing for me.”
You can catch the Rexburg Tabernacle Orchestra performing “The Planets” and other works of Gustav Holst this Thursday, March 9, at 7:30 pm at the Rexburg Tabernacle Civic Community Center. Admission is free to the public.
