It was on this date in 1918 that selections from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” were first performed in Queen’s Hall, under the direction of Adrian Boult. Boult gave a second incomplete performance of the work in 1919, concluding with “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity.” He believed that half an hour was about all the public could withstand of such totally new music. Whether we view that through the lens of how much we’ve been through musically since then, or Boult’s own conservative tastes I leave to you.

The first performance of all seven movements of the suite did not occur until 1920, with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Albert Coates. This was the first public hearing of “Neptune.”

According to his daughter, Imogen Holst, the composer hated incomplete performances of “The Planets,” though he was obliged to present it several times that way himself. He particularly disliked concluding with “Jupiter,” since it gave the impression of the work having a happy ending. “In the real world,” he observed, “the end is not happy at all.”

Did you happen to catch my tribute to Sir David Willcocks, this past Sunday night on “The Lost Chord?” The show opens with Holst’s “Hymn to Dionysus” (1913), which was written just before he embarked on “The Planets” (1914-16). In Greek mythology, Dionysus is the son of Zeus (dubbed Jupiter by the Romans), so I suppose it’s only appropriate that there are moments when the piece seems like an ecstatic relation to “the Bringer of Jollity.”

Want proof? Sample here, at the 6:30 mark:

Then here at 7:40:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BrZZP0eC3o

Then by all means go back and enjoy the rest of the performances.

“The Lost Chord” repeats Wednesday evening at 6 ET, on WWFM The Classical Network, at 89.1 FM and online at wwfm.org. Tune in also to hear one of the “groups” from Holst’s “Choral Hymns from the ‘Rig Veda.’”

Then join me on Thursday morning, at WPRB 103.3 FM or online at wprb.com, for Holst’s “Walt Whitman Overture,” as part of a program devoted to music and poetry. Jollity is my middle name, from 6 to 11, on “Classic Ross Amico.”