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Rightly or wrongly, Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” remains the most famous British orchestral music in the standard repertoire. Holst resented its popularity as composers often do (Tchaikovsky hated “The Nutcracker” and the “1812” Overture and Rachmaninoff despised his iconic c-sharp minor Prelude for Piano), so much so that when Pluto was discovered in 1930, Holst never added it to the suite even though more recent attempts have tried to include it. (The real irony here, of course, is that Pluto was stripped of its “planet” status in 2006, leaving Holst’s original instincts correct.) Lovers of John Williams’ “Star Wars” music will recognize his use of styles, rhythms, motifs and orchestrations from the suite, which will be explored in a special “Beyond the Score” presentation on Sunday afternoon while the piece is performed as the centerpiece of Charles Dutoit’s second and final week of CSO concerts during the rest of the week which will also include Ravel’s most ethereal orchestral transcription of one of his piano pieces, the haunting “Pavane for a Dead Princess” and the Debussy “Noctures,” a natural paring with the Holst since it also uses female choral members for sound effects. (Dennis Polkow)
Thursday, March 27 at Symphony Center
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