Gustav Holst’s The Planets: The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain Conducted by John Wilson, Leeds Town Hall, May 2013

I Mars, the Bringer of War (1914)
III Mercury, the Winged Messenger (1916)
VI Uranus, the Magician (1915)
VII Neptune, the Mystic (1915)

John Williams used the melody and instrumentation of “Mars” as the inspiration for his soundtrack for the Star Wars films. You can especially hear this in the Death Star theme.

The concert also included John Adams’s Guide to Strange Places and Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes.

• “The Story So Far, with Conductor John Wilson”
• “The Story So Far; Or, Conductor John Wilson—His Limits”

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• Read my comic novel of Hollywood COLD OPEN here
• Find my album JOHN WILSON: AN ENGLISH CONDUCTOR here

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