The Planets Suite by Holst is probably the most famous piece of British music in the world – excluding pop music. It is played by orchestras throughout the world, amateur and professional, but few people realise that it has its origins in Holst’s understanding of astrology. In 1913 at the age of 39. Holst was suffering from several years of musical disappointments particularly the failure in February of his large choral work The Cloud Messenger.

In order to help Holst understand how he felt his friend Clifford Bax introduced him to the study of astrology using the books by Alan Leo a well known astrologer of the day. In fact Leo’s The Art of Synthesis gave Holst the idea for the form of the movement titles such as “Neptune the Mystic”. However, Holst recorded that he been thinking about a work based on the planets in 1912.

In May 1914 before the outbreak of war in August Holst began to write Mars followed by Venus and Jupiter; then Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in 1915 and finally Mercury in 1916.

It is clear that Holst had a plan as he arranged the planets in the order Mars, Venus Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune not the astronomical order. According to Holst the suite deals with the “seven influences of destiny and constituents of our spirit”. Astrologically the pattern is clear the order symbolises the unfolding experience of life from youth to old age. The piano on which Holst worked out some of his musical ideas is now in the Holst Birthplace Museum and also some of his astrological books.