The Styrous® Viewfinder: 20,000 vinyl LPs 399: Isao Tomita: Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

September 21, 2025

20,000 vinyl LPs 399: Isao Tomita: Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

vinyl LP front cover detail

cover illustration – Stanislaw Fernandes

detail photo of album cover by Styrous®

On September 21, 1874, composer Gustav Theodore Holst was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Apart from The Planets and a handful of other works, his music was generally neglected until the 1980s, when recordings of much of his output became available.

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

vinyl LP front cover

cover illustration – Stanislaw Fernandes

photo of album cover by Styrous®

Some of his friends and influences were Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Bernard Shaw and fabric designer William Morris. Holst was also frequently inspired by literature, Max Müller, Walt Whitman, Thomas Hardy and Robert Bridges.

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

vinyl LP back cover

illustration – Stanislaw Fernandes

photo of album cover by Styrous®

Patrick Gleeson, who did several classical synthesizer albums using the Emu Modular synthesizer, released his own version of the Holst Planets on Mercury Records (link below). There was some consternation at RCA and Mercury that both artists had worked unknown to each other on a synthesizer version of the same piece. 'The Tomita Planets' was more than likely so named in the USA to avoid the confusion the record companies were fearful of.

The Planets was taken out of market for a few years by court order from the Holst's relatives. They claimed that Tomita had manhandled their father's great composition, and the record company withdrew some 30,000 records from the stores. Despite this, The Planets is Tomita's most complete and popular work, and was listed as one of the best keyboard albums by Keyboard Magazine. It was the last album to be released by RCA Records in the quadraphonic format.

There have been many interpretations of The Planets; Emerson, Lake & Palmer did a version of Mars The Bringer Of War.

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

vinyl LP back cover detail

illustration – Stanislaw Fernandes

detail photo Styrous®

There is more information on Holst and Tomita on a previous article I've written about the LaserDisc version of this recording (link below).

The illustration for the cover of The Planets was created by Stanislaw Fernandes who also did the cover for the Enchantment album by Utopia (to be a future article).

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

vinyl LP, side 1

photos by Styrous®

Isao Tomita ~ Gustav Holst ~ The Planets

vinyl LP back cover detail

illustration – Stanislaw Fernandes

detail photo Styrous®

Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 - I. Mars, The Bringer Of War - 10:48
A2 - II. Venus, The Bringer Of Peace - 8:46
A3 - III. Mercury, The Winged Messenger - 5:28

Side 2:

B1 - IV. Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jollity; V. Saturn, The Bringer Of Old Age - 17:35
B2 - VI. Uranus, The Magician; VII. Neptune, The Mystic - 9:37

Companies, etc.

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – RCA Records
Copyright © – RCA Records
Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
Published By – G. Schirmer

Credits:

Composed By – Holst*
Illustration – Stanislaw Fernandes
Performer [Electronically Performed] – Isao Tomita*
Producer [Produced By] – Plasma Music, Inc.

Notes:

Includes a poster of the front sleeve, and a poly-lined Red Seal inner sleeve.
Some copies have a Demonstration/Not For Sale gold stamp on the back cover.

Artist/title on front cover:
The
Tomita
Planets

Artist/title on spine:
Holst · The Planets – Isao Tomita

Artist/title on labels:
Holst
The Planets

Artist/title on back cover:
Holst
The Planets
Electronically performed by
Isao Tomita

Info on back cover:
TMK(S) ® Registered • Marca(s) Registrada(s) RCA Corporation • © 1976 RCA Records, New York, N.Y. • Printed in U.S.A.

Info on labels:
(Recorded in Japan)
TM(s) TCA Corp.—Made in U.S.A.

Runouts are stamped except the last letter or number is etched (e.g. A).

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Rights Society: ASCAP
Pressing Plant ID: I
Price Code (on spine): 0698
Matrix / Runout (Side A label): ARL1-1919-A
Matrix / Runout (Side B label): ARL1-1919-B
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 1): ARL1-1919A-1 I A0 3
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 1): ARL1-1919B-2 I AC C
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 2): ARL1-1919 A-6
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 2): ARL1-1919 B-10
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 3): ARL1-1919A-1 I ^0A
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 3): ARL1-1919B-2 I ^2B
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 4): ARL1-1919A-1 I A1 cC
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 4): ARL1-1919B-2 I A C D
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 5): ARL1-1919A-1 I Λ0 J
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 5): ARL1-1919B-2 ΛI L
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 6): ARL1-1919A-1 I A4C
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 6): ARL1-1919B-2 I A2C
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 7): ARL1-1919A-1 I A3 L
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 7): ARL1-1919B-2 I A1 L
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 8): ARL1-1919 A-6 I 1 Λ2B
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 8): ARL1-1919B-12 Λ1P
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 9): ARL1-1919 A-1 I A1H
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 9): ARL1-1919B-2 I A4D
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 10): ARL1-1919A-1 I Λ7 F
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 10): ARL1-1919B-2 I Λ7 C
Matrix / Runout (Side A runout variant 11): ARL1-1919 A-3 I A3 A1
Matrix / Runout (Side B runout variant 11): ARL1-1919B-2 I A10 K

Tomita – The Planets
Label: RCA Red Seal – ARL1-1919
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Indianapolis Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1976
Genre: Electronic
Style: Modern Classical

Viewfinder links:

Benjamin Britten

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Stanislaw Fernandes

Patrick Gleeson

Gustav Holst

Gustav Holtz ~ The Planets (LaserDisc)

William Morris

Edmund Rubbra

George Bernard Shaw

Michael Tippett

Isao Tomita