PINK FLOYD AND
THE PLANETS

by Michelle Pellay-Walker

Pink Floyd (arr. Sam Shoup):  Suite from Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd, one of England's most iconic rock bands, released the album, Dark Side of the Moon, in March of 1973.  It went on to become one of the best-selling rock albums in history, and has been selected for preservation by the U.S. National Recording Registry (part of the Library of Congress) as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”  The Grammy Hall of Fame added this album to its list in 1999.  The album consists of ten tracks, that address philosophical as well as social issues.  Composer and arranger Sam Shoup was commissioned by Robert Moody to create this Suite for the Memphis Symphony Orchestra late in 2023.  When asked to provide some insights into his work, Shoup responded:  “…the biggest challenge was using the orchestra as my guitar player.  That’s always fun.  I orchestrated the iconic “Money” guitar solo, as well as most of the vocal improv on “The Great Gig in the Sky.”  This was always one of my favorite albums.  I had two copies so I could put both sides on my automatic record changer.  I’d put on some of those little spongy Sennheiser headphones, and off I would go to the couch.”  This promises to be a lot of fun, for the orchestra as well as for the audience!!

Leoš Janáček (1854-1928):  Sinfonietta
First Performance:  Czech Philharmonic, (Václav Talich, conductor):  Prague, 1926
Originally titled Military Sinfonietta, Leoš Janáček was commissioned by the Sokol Gymnastic Festival to produce this work, which is dedicated to the Czechoslovak Army.  He described the work as being intended to express “…contemporary free man, his spiritual beauty and joy;  his strength, courage, and determination to fight for victory.”  The Sinfonietta is scored for a large orchestra, including full woodwinds plus auxiliary instruments (no contrabassoon), a brass section featuring a complement of twenty-five players (inspired by Janáček’s exposure to brass band music), timpani, percussion, harp, and strings.  The brass band influence is most strongly heard in the opening movement, which features brass and timpani only;  this material reappears at the end of the last movement, with accompanying figures in the woodwinds and the strings.  The subtitles of movements two through five refer to locations in the city of Brno (The Castle, The Queen’s Monastery, The Street Leading to the Castle, and The Town Hall), the second largest city in the Czech Republic, in the southeastern Moravian region.  One note of interest concerning the opening Fanfare:  A rearrangement was used by the progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer on their first album (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), as part of the song, “Knife-Edge.”   

Gustav Holst (1874-1934):  The Planets
First Performance:  London Symphony Orchestra (Albert Coates, conductor):  London, 1920
Gustav Holst was introduced to astrology while on a trip to Spain in the spring of 1913, and it remained not only a lifelong fascination, but was also a direct influence on his eventual composing of The Planets.  Holst called his interest in the stars his “pet vice,” and often cast his friends’ horoscopes just for the fun of it.  British astrologer Alan Leo’s books, The Art of Synthesis, and What is a Horoscope? are also thought to have provided significant influence for the work, serving as a catalyst for Holst’s own ideas.  Holst had the following to say about the work:  “As a rule, I only study things that suggest music to me.  That’s why I worried at Sanskrit.  Then recently the character of each planet suggested lots to me, and I have been studying astrology fairly closely.”  So The Planets is not so much concerned with the astronomical aspects of the solar system as with their astrological influences.  The movements do NOT occur as the planets are ordered in our solar system.  Rather, they occur in an astrological pattern that symbolizes the experience of life from youth to old age.  [NOTE:  The performances for this concert set do not follow the usual established order;  the final four movements will be reversed from their normal sequence.]  He worked on the piece for three years, from 1914 through 1917, and it was given its first complete public performance in 1920 by the London Symphony Orchestra, with Albert Coates conducting.  Holst, on the other hand, considered the proper premiere of the work to have taken place two years earlier under the young Adrian Boult, even though that audience consisted of an invited group of approximately 250 people.  There are too many astounding musical moments to list here, but a few of note include the unusual 5/4 meter of both Mars and Neptune, the hauntingly beautiful horn solo in Venus, the skittering scherzo-like quality of Mercury, the women’s chorus (electronically rendered for this concert set) featured at the conclusion of Neptune, the prominent bassoons in Uranus (Paul Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice may come to mind!!), the double bass melodic lines in Saturn, and the emotionally charged middle section of Jupiter, which was later reworked into one of England’s best-loved patriotic hymns, I Vow to Thee, My Country.