Mars (arr Vinson)

Gustav Holst

Subtitle: From The Planets

General Info

Year: 1916 / 2009
Duration: c. 2:00
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Hal Leonard
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $55.00; (digital) - $55.00 | Score Only (print) - $5.00

Instrumentation (Flexible)

Full Score
Part 1

Flute
Oboe
B-flat Clarinet
B-flat Trumpet
Violin

Part 2

B-flat Clarinet
B-flat Trumpet
E-flat Alto Saxophone
Violin

Part 3

B-flat Clarinet
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
E-flat Alto Clarinet
F Horn
Violin
Viola

Part 4

B-flat Tenor Saxophone
Euphonium T.C
F Horn
Trombone
Euphonium B.C.
Bassoon
Cello

Part 5

B-flat Bass Clarinet
Trombone
Euphonium B.C.
Bassoon
Euphonium T.C.
Cello
B-flat Baritone Saxophone
Tuba
String/Electric Bass

Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bells
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal (large)
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Mars – The Bringer of War was complete in the composer's mind in the summer of 1914, when the First World War was but an emerging threat. The work is dominated by a relentless hammering out of a 5/4 rhythm which suggests the relentless destruction of war. The opposition of harmony and rhythm is skillfully used to produce a startling aural and emotional effect. The movement was transcribed for band by the composer is 1924.

- Program Note from Program Notes for Band

The Mars and Jupiter movements of Holst's orchestral work were arranged for band by two students, L. Pay and George Smith, for a concert at Kneller Hall on October 3, 1924. (Kneller Hall, in the London borough of Richmond on Thames, houses the Royal Military School of Music, training musicians for the British Army.) It is possible, though not definitively known, that Holst himself had an active role in proofing the manuscripts.

- Program Note from From Kneller Hall to Hammersmith

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

West Virginia: II

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Chaconne from "First Suite in Eb" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2016)
Fantasia on the "Dargason" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1911/2013)
Intermezzo (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2017)
Jupiter (arr. Deterling) (Flex instrumentation) (1916/2020)
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity (Adaptable Band) (arr. Fisher) (1916/2020)
March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1911/2010)
March from "First Suite in Eb" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2015)
March from Second "Suite in F Major" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Fisher) (1911/2018)
March from "First Suite in Eb" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2015)
Mars (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vinson) (1916/2009)
A Moorside March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Wright; ed. M. Brand) (1928/2021)
Songs from the "Second Suite" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1911/2012)
Suite from "The Planets" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vinson) (1916/2018)

All Wind Music

Ave Maria (tr. Woodley) (1900)
Bach's Fugue à la Gigue (as arranger; ed. Brand). See: Fugue à la Gigue
Bach's Fugue à la Gigue (as arranger; ed. Mitchell) (1707/1928/2005)
Brook Green Suite (tr. Curnow) (1933/2006)
Capriccio (tr. Boyd) (1932/1967/1974)
Capriccio (arr. Paul Noble) (1932/1967/2019)
Chaconne from "First Suite in Eb" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2016)
Chorale from Jupiter (arr. James Curnow)
Christmas Day (arr. Daehn) (1910/2011)
Christmas Day (arr. Beringen) (1910/2010)
Country Song (arr. Klein) (1906)
Dance of the Spirits of Fire (trans. Harpham) (1918/1922/1971)
Dirge for Two Veterans
Fantasia on the "Dargason" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1911/2013)
Fantasia on the "Dargason" (arr. Story) (1911/2000)
First Suite in E-flat (1909/1921)
First Suite in E-flat (ed. Matthews) (1909/1921/1984)
First Suite in E-flat (ed. Ito) (1909/2011)
First Suite in E-flat (arr. Longfield) (1909/2006)
First Suite in E-flat for Military Band (ed. Fennell) (1909/2006)
First Suite in E-flat Themes (arr. Sweeney). See: Themes from "First Suite in E-flat"
A Fugal Concerto (arr. Brand) (1923/1993?)
A Fugal Overture (arr. Noble) (1922/2014)
A Fugal Overture (trans. Ponto) (1922)
Fugue à la Gigue (as arranger; ed. Brand) (1707/1928/2008)
Fugue à la Gigue (as arranger; ed. Mitchell). See: Bach's Fugue à la Gigue
Gustav Holst Band Classics (arr. Edwards) (2020)
Hammersmith: Prelude and Scherzo (1930)
A Holst Hymn (arr. Smith) (1921/2022)
A Holst Suite (trans. Thompson) (2018)
Hymns from the Rig Veda (tr. Windram, ed. Mitchell) (1908/1917/2017)
I Vow to Thee, My Country (setting Vaughan Williams; ed. Grechesky) (1921/1988)
I Vow to Thee, My Country (arr. Knorr) (1921/2017)
Illumination (arr. Gene Milford)
In the Bleak Midwinter. See: Winter Suite
Intermezzo (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2017)
Japanese Suite (adapt. Boyd) (1915/1982/1999)
Jupiter (arr. Deterling) (Flex instrumentation) (1916/2020)
Jupiter from "The Planets" (arr. Pay and Smith) (1916/1924)
Jupiter from "The Planets" (arr. Branchfield) (1916/2014)
Jupiter (arr. Brown) (1916)
Jupiter (tr. Curnow) (1916/1990)
Jupiter (arr Hurt) from "The Planets" (arr. Hurt) (1916)
Jupiter (arr. Owens) (1916/2006)
Jupiter Hymn (arr. de Meij) (1916/1921/1990)
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity (Adaptable Band) (arr. Fisher) (1916/2020)
Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity (tr. McAlister; ed. Reed) (1916/2003)
March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1911/2010)
March from "First Suite for Military Band" (arr. Story) (2011)
March from "First Suite in Eb" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2015)
March from Second "Suite in F Major" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Fisher) (1911/2018)
Marching Song (1906/1930)
Marching Song (arr. Moss) (1906/2006)
Marching Song (ed. Reynish) (1906/1983)
March on Three Folk Tunes (ed. Binney) (c. 1913/2005)
Mars (arr. Bocook) (1916/1998)
Mars (arr. Owens) (1916/2009)
Mars from "The Planets" (tr. Pay and Smith) (1916/1924)
Mars, from "The Planets" (tr. Singleton) (1916/2001)
Mars (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vinson) (1916/2009)
Midwinter (arr. Phillips) (2012)
Moorside March (arr. Jacob) (1928/1960)
A Moorside March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Wright; ed. M. Brand) (1928/2021)
A Moorside Suite (arr. Wright)
Morris Dance Tunes (arr. Wagner) (1910/2010)
On This Day the Earth Shall Ring (arr. Smith) (2001)
The Perfect Fool (arr. Short) (1922/2005)
The Planets (tr. Inagaki) (1916)
The Planets (tr. Janssen) (1916/2017)
The Planets (tr. Patterson) (1916/1998)
The Planets (tr. Schrijvers) (1916/2005)
The Planets (tr. Vives) (1916/2007?)
The Planets (tr. Smith) (1916/1921)
Scherzo (tr. Patterson) (1933/2021)
Second Suite in F (ed. Fennell; score assembly Schissel) (1911/2006)
Second Suite in F (arr. Johnston) (1911/2011)
Second Suite in F (ed. Matthews) (1911)
Second Suite in F (ed. Neumann) (1911)
Second Suite in F (ed. Ito) (1911/1922/2012)
Second Suite in F (adapt. Longfield) (1911/2007)
Second Suite in f minor / F Major (ed. Hauswirth and Schmidt) (1911/2014)
A Somerset Rhapsody (tr. Clare Grundman) (1906/1927/1980)
The Song of the Blacksmith (arr. Loest) (1911/2011)
Songs from the "Second Suite" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1911/2012)
Songs of the West (arr. James Curnow) (1907/1986)
St. Paul's Suite (arr. Sparke) (1912-1913/2017)
Suite from "The Planets" (arr. Custer) (1916/1991)
Suite from "The Planets" (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Vinson) (1916/2018)
Themes from "First Suite in E-flat" (arr. Sweeney) (1909/2006)
Three Folk Tunes (arr. Wagner) (c. 1913/2007)
Two Songs Without Words (arr. Erickson) (1906/1996)
Uranus (tr. Curnow) (1916/1991)
Winter Suite
- On This Day Earth Shall Ring (arr. Smith) (1924/2001)
- In the Bleak Midwinter (arr. Bullock) (1906/1996)
- In the Bleak Midwinter (arr. Giroux) (1906/2018)
- In the Bleak Midwinter (arr. Smith) (1906/1992)
- Old Brenton Carol (arr. Smith) (1910/2001)

Resources

Gibbs, Alan. "How did Holst conduct 'The Planets.'" Tempo, vol. 66, no. 261, July 2012, pp. 51-58.
Mitchell, Jon C. From Kneller Hall to Hammersmith: The Band Works of Gustav Holst. Tutzing: H. Schneider, 1990, pg. 91-92. Print.
Perusal score
The Planets. Wikipedia. Accessed 6 August 2023
Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 297.