Mars (tr. Singleton)

From Wind Repertory Project
Gustav Holst

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


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


All Wind Music


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.