Mars (tr. Singleton)
Gustav Holst (trans. Kenneth Singleton)
General Info
Year:1916 / 2001
Duration: c. 7:30
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Art of Sound Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $42.00; (digital) - $42.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV (I double Piccolo Trumpet)
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II (I doubles Euphonium)
Tuba I-II
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Snare Drum
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Mars is the god of war. This movement of The Planets has a strong rhythmical, figure suggestive of marching and the terrible destruction of war. This piece apparently made an impression on John Williams, the composer of Star Wars' The Imperial March.
- Program Note from publisher
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. Denver Brass
- Audio CD: Denver Brass - 2010
State Ratings
None discovered thus far. =
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of Texas Arlington Wind Symphony (Douglas Stotter, conductor) - 8 December 2020
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. 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. Curnow) (1916/1991)
- Christmas Day (arr. Beringen) (1910/2010)
- Christmas Day (arr. Daehn) (1910/2011)
- Christmas Day (arr. Winkelman) (1910/2017)
- Country Song (arr. Klein) (1906)
- Dance of the Spirits of Fire (tr. Harpham) (1918/1922/1971)
- Dirge for Two Veterans (1914)
- 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 (tr. 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 (tr. Thompson) (2018)
- Holst Winter Suite (arr. Smith)
- On This Day Earth Shall Ring (1924/2001)
- In the Bleak Midwinter (1906/1992)
- Old Brenton Carol (1910/2001)
- Hymns from the Rig Veda (tr. Windram, ed. Mitchell) (1906/1917/2017)
- 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. Milford)
- In the Bleak Midwinter (arr. Bullock) (1906/1996)
- In the Bleak Midwinter (arr. Giroux) (1906/2018)
- In the Bleak Midwinter (arr. Robert W. Smith). See: Holst Winter Suite
- In the Bleak Midwinter (arr. Robert W. Smith and Susan L. Smith) (1908/2016)
- Intermezzo (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Stanton) (1909/2017)
- Japanese Suite (adapt. Boyd) (1915/1982/1999)
- Jupiter (arr. Branchfield) (1916/2014)
- Jupiter (arr. Brown) (1916)
- Jupiter (tr. Curnow) (1916/1990)
- Jupiter (arr. Deterling) (Flex instrumentation) (1916/2020)
- Jupiter (arr. Hurt) (1916)
- Jupiter (arr. Owens) (1916/2006)
- Jupiter (arr. Pay and Smith) (1916/1924)
- Jupiter (arr. Smith and Story) (1916/2007)
- 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)
- Old Brenton Carol (arr. Smith). See: Holst Winter Suite
- On This Day Earth Shall Ring (arr. Smith). See: Holst Winter Suite
- 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. Smith) (1916/1921)
- The Planets (tr. Vives) (1916/2007?)
- 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. 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. 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 (arr. Smith). See: Holst Winter Suite
Resources
- Gibbs, Alan. "How did Holst conduct 'The Planets.'" Tempo, vol. 66, no. 261, July 2012, pp. 51-58.
- Holst, G.; Singleton, K. (2001). Mars, from "The Planets." [score]. Denver Brass Publications: Denver, Colo.
- Perusal score
- The Planets. Wikipedia. Accessed 6 August 2023
- Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 297.