3 Minutes of Awesome! Gustav Holst and one of the greatest works ever written for band...

In the early years of 20th century, very few important composers wrote music for bands. Fortunately for us, Gustav Holst was one of them. His two landmark works, First Suite in E-flat and Second Suite in F, have become cornerstones of wind repertoire. This coming year, we will be studying his life and music, and I'm sure that both Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band will spend some time with these wonderful pieces. There may even be time to dip into his orchestral suite The Planets, which explores the mythological beings of Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

As an ironic aside, noted Holst scholar Colin Matthews composed an eighth movement, Pluto, in 2000. As Holst wrote his original work over a decade before Pluto was discovered, it always felt "incomplete" to later audiences. I wonder how Dr. Matthews felt when, six years later, Pluto was demoted!

In any event, here is the Intermezzo movement from the First Suite in E-flat, as performed by the United States Marine Band.