I remember my classical music discovery of Gustav Holst. Born in London, he composed the Water Music and The Planets. He was considered a mystic, lived a like a hermit,ate mostly nuts and was asthmatic. Climbing the stair to get to rehearsal was agonizing for him. When he composed The Planets, the first piece in it was Mars; Bringer Of War. Though , he had never seen battle and had never even heard a machinegun, he put all the horrific elements found in war into this piece that was released years before WW1. When he did Jupiter; The Bringer Of Jollity, duing the slow,lyrical part with the strings, the cleaning ladies working in the concert hall listening to the piece danced. Holst married a young woman who was 10 his junior and she helped him a great deal with his appearance and himself. The first time I heard The Planets was while watching Evening At Pops with John Williams conducting the Boston Pops Orchestra. It was amazing. I remember playing Jupiter on my alto sax by ear in high school. But, it was during the winter of 1984 when I found the recording that became my lifelong favorite. It was performed by Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Eugene Ormandy. To me, it was the best I have ever heard. I have heard other recordings by well known and well respected conductors like Leonard Bernstein, Andre Previn, and Herbert Von Karijan(or Karian). And with orchestras like The London Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philarmonic Orchestra. But, they didn't come close to Ormandy. But, as I realized later, that conductors have their own interpretation of the scores they perform and instrumentation and size of the orchestra are things to consider. If you have the chance, listen to The Planets conducted by Eugene Ormandy.
