Of all the music created by Gustav Holst, Mars, the Bringer of War was the most terrifying to my young ears. The first time I heard it was in a music lesson at school, in which we had to work out the planet for each of the seven pieces, and I sensed darkness, drama and a kind of urgency, particularly in the Morse-code-like punctuation and the strident brass. I envisioned the red planet, a fiery orb in the solar system, Martians arriving in thousands of spaceships, marching across fields and through streets, fire and brimstone raining from above.
The piece is a march, a strange and powerful one, which reflects the mood of the time in which it was written, its first performance being in September 1918. But as a rock fan, I was completely taken by the various interpretations of Mars by bands such as King Crimson, Emerson, Lake and Powell, Diamond Head and Black Sabbath.
cacophonous March
rocking out in my bedroom
red planet of war
Kim M. Russell, 2nd March 2020
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Haibun Monday: Mars
Frank is our host this first Monday in March and we’re talking about red-faced Mars or Martius, the first month of the earliest Roman calendar, named after Mars, the Roman god of war, an ancestor of the Roman people through his sons Romulus and Remus.
Frank says that Mars has captured our scientific and cultural attention since ancient times and some poets have found inspiration in the Red Planet; he shares examples of poems by Wyn Cooper and Longfellow.
Whether it’s the God of War or the Red Planet, we are writing haibun that allude to Mars.
I had not heard about the pieces by Gustav Holst, but I can clearly understand that anything written on the war in 1918 had to be terrifying… the influence between classical music and rock music is something that I have sometimes felt when it’s obvious and sometimes it has taken me years to realize it.
Now I notice it more and more whenever I go to a concert. I need to listen to Holst.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, Kim! I hadn’t even thought about an orchestration based on Mars. I love the immediacy of your prose, and the punctuating complement of your haiku!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you, Frank.
LikeLike
The Planets suite is a favourite. I can imagine how it must have sounded terrifying to a child’s ears. I have no idea when I heard it first, possibly later than you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I remember when I was about eleven, I fell in love with Tchaikovsky, but when I started GCE Music, everything blew him out of the water, especially Holst!
LikeLike
Tchaikovsky was my first favourite too. What was that record series called, Classics for Pleasure, something like that? I must have had them all.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wrote stories to them. My favourite of all was the Piano Concerto in B Flat Minor.
LikeLike
That’s one step ahead of me! It’s the kind of thing I did with my infant school pupils, played music to them and asked them to make up a story and draw a picture to go with it. Fascinating stuff.
LikeLiked by 1 person
With my high school pupils I used The Beatles, Joni Mitchell! and Metallica!
LikeLike
It takes maturity to appreciate rock proably 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
A very creative take on the prompt, Kim. The music on the video here is imposing and I can see where a child’s mind could imagine a lot hearing a full orchestra playing along these lines.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Jade!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Immensely clever write, Kim. From Mars to music — one giant leap for womankind! (sorry, pun intended)
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂
LikeLike
Classics/rock definitely a relationship there
Thanks for dropping by to read mine
Much❤love
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks and much love to you, Gillena.
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing the memory and the music, Kim…certainly an ominous beat to this war march!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Mars is not my favourite – that’s Juipiter. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
The feeling of war is in the music for sure! Well done Kim.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Dwight!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kinds of music build bridges to each other, and often whelp new forms. For me, it is not Rock that is the modern classical music, it is the fantastic musical scores for movies. The actual classics often were written about legends and events.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can understand your love of musical scores, Glenn. I like them too.
LikeLike
love your words and the piece … I’m an ELP fan! Also love Black Sabbaths version, it’s super dramatic 🙂 Thanks for expanding our thoughts about Mars
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cheers Kate! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
how you weaved music and Mars give a very powerful impression for this haibun.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
How amazing to pair pieces of music with planets. Love your description of this, and the haiku!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Sara!
LikeLike