Showing posts with label Isao Tomita. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Isao Tomita. Show all posts
September 22, 2025
Stanislaw Fernandes articles/mentions
September 21, 2025
20,000 vinyl LPs 399: 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.
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.
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.
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).
Tracklist:
Side 1:
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
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
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
Label: RCA Red Seal – ARL1-1919
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Indianapolis Pressing
Country: US
Released: 1976
Genre: Electronic
Style: Modern Classical
Viewfinder links:
Gustav Holtz ~ The Planets (LaserDisc)
Net links:
SF Crow's Nest ~ The Tomita Planets by Isao Tomita
Synth Junkie ~ Mars The Bringer of War: Two Synthesizer Interpretations
Isao Tomita ~ The Planets
ypoiw ~ Isao Tomita - The Planets
YouTube links:
Emerson, Lake & Palmer ~ Mars The Bringer Of War
March 21, 2024
Modest Mussorgsky ~ Pictures at an Exhibition
~
English: The cover of the first edition of Mussorgsky's Picture at the Exhibition (edited by Rimsky-Korsakov).
Русский: Обложка первого издания «Картинок с выставки» М. П. Мусоргского (под редакцией Н. А. Римского-Корсакова).
Deutsch:
Das Titelblatt der ersten Ausgabe von Modest Mussorgskis „Bilder einer
Ausstellung“ (bearbeitet von Rimski-Korsakoff). Die Aufschrift lautet:
Владиміру Васльевичу Стасову
Картинки съ выставки
Десять пьесъ для фортепіано
Модеста Мусоргскаго
A Monsieur Wladimir Stassoff
„Tableaux d’une exposition“
Série de dix pièces
POUR PIANO
PAR
MODESTE MOUSSORGSKY
Today, March 21, is the birthday of Russian composer, librettist, director, and playwright Modest Mussorgsky who was born in 1839. He was one of a group known as "The Five" and an innovator of Russian music in the Romantic period.
He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in
deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music.
Many of his works were inspired by Russian folklore, history and other national themes some of which include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night on Bald Mountain and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition.
Pictures at an Exhibition is based on paintings in an exhibition at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg by the artist, architect, and designer Viktor Hartmann who with Mussorgsky, was devoted to the cause of an intrinsically Russian art. Each movement of the suite is based on an individual work from that exhibition.
date & photographer unknown
As with most of Mussorgsky's works, Pictures at an Exhibition has
a complicated publication history. Although composed very rapidly,
during June 1874, the work did not appear in print until 1886, five
years after the composer's death, when an edition by the composer's
friend and colleague Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
was published. This edition, however, was not a completely accurate
representation of Mussorgsky's score but presented a revised text that
contained a number of errors and misreadings.
In 1922, Maurice Ravel wrote an adaptation for orchestra and it is the most recorded and performed. There
have been dozens of interpretations of Pictures by world renown classical music
conductors as well as popular musicians over the years.
photo by Vera Prasilova Scott
The suite has inspired covers in a broad range of popular musical styles. The Emerson, Lake & Palmer version incorporated elements of progressive rock, jazz and folk music. An electronic music adaptation by Isao Tomita was done in 1975 and in 2005, Animusic 2
created an amazing animation that included a track entitled Cathedral Pictures, which used only the
first Promenade and the final two movements from the suite
arranged by Tomita. On the topic of animation, one unforgettable
endeavor was the 1940 Walt Disney animation Fantasia which used Night on Bald Mountain. I remember when I was a little kid I loved Fantasia but this segment totally creeped me out!
In 1984 the metal band, Armored Saint, utilised the Great Gate of Kyiv theme as an introduction for the track March of the Saint in the album of the same name. In 1990 a heavy metal arrangement of the entire suite was released by the German band Mekong Delta; In 2002, electronic musician-composer Amon Tobin paraphrased Gnomus for the track Back From Space on his album Out from Out Where. In 2003 guitarist-composer Trevor Rabin released an electric guitar adaptation of the Promenade that was originally intended for the Yes album Big Generator but later included on his compilation album, 90124. The Michael Jackson song HIStory samples a short section of The Great Gate of
Kiev.
Viewfinder links:
Michael Jackson ~ HIStory
Net links:
YouTube links:
Animusic 2 ~ Pictures at an exhibition
Armored Saint ~ March of the Saint
Walt Disney - Night on Bald Mountain
Emerson, Lake & Palmer ~ Pictures At An Exhibition (Complete album)
Michael Jackson ~ HIStory
Mekong Delta ~ Pictures At An Exhibition (Complete album)
Trevor Rabin ~ Promenade
Amon Tobin ~ Back From Space
Isao Tomita ~ Pictures At An Exhibition (Complete album)
September 21, 2020
Isao Tomita articles/mentions
September 21, 2018
1,001 LaserDiscs 6: Gustav Holtz ~ The Planets
12" NTSC LaserDisc front cover
photo by Styrous®
Today, September 21 is the birthday of composer Gustav Holst, who was born in 1874. He is best known for his orchestral suite The Planets, which was written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst.
The premiere was at the Queen's Hall on 29 September 1918, conducted by Holst's friend Adrian Boult before an invited audience of about 250 people. The first complete public performance was finally given in London by Albert Coates conducting the London Symphony Orchestra on November 15, 1920.
12" NTSC LaserDisc back cover
photo by Styrous®
This recording is performed by Isao Tomita who adapted The Planets for Moog and other synthesizers and electronic devices. Tomita, was a Japanese music-composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of analog synthesizer arrangements.
Holst
was the third generation of professional musicians in his family and he
had hoped to become a pianist but was prevented by neuritis in his right arm. He pursued a career as a composer, studying at the Royal College of Music under Charles Villiers Stanford. Unable to support himself by his compositions, he played the trombone professionally and later became a teacher—a great one, according to his colleague Ralph Vaughan Williams.
He was a significant influence on a number of younger English composers, including Edmund Rubbra, Michael Tippett and Benjamin Britten. 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.
He was a significant influence on a number of younger English composers, including Edmund Rubbra, Michael Tippett and Benjamin Britten. 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.
Vaughan Williams
described Holst as "the greatest influence on my music", although
Matthews asserts that each influenced the other equally. Among later
composers, Michael Tippett
is acknowledged as Holst's "most significant artistic
successor", both in terms of compositional style and because Tippett,
who succeeded Holst as director of music at Morley College, maintained
the spirit of Holst's music there.
There are other English composers who are in debt to Holst, in particular William Walton and Benjamin Britten.
There are other English composers who are in debt to Holst, in particular William Walton and Benjamin Britten.
12" NTSC LaserDisc back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Holst conceived the idea of The Planets
in 1913, partly as a result of his interest in astrology, and his
determination to produce a large-scale orchestral work. The chosen
format may have been influenced by Fünf Orchesterstücke, by Schoenberg, and shares something of the aesthetic of Nocturnes or La mer by Debussy.
12" NTSC LaserDisc back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Each planet is represented with a distinct character. In Mars, a persistent, uneven rhythmic cell
consisting of five beats, combined with trumpet calls and harmonic
dissonance provides battle music which is unique in its
expression of violence and sheer terror, "... Holst's intention being to
portray the reality of warfare rather than to glorify deeds of
heroism".
John Williams used the melodies and instrumentation of Mars as the inspiration for his soundtrack for the Star Wars films (specifically The Imperial March)
Hans Zimmer closely used the melodies, instrumentation and orchestration of Mars as the inspiration for his soundtrack for the movie Gladiator to the extent that a lawsuit for copyright infringement was filed by the Holst foundation
John Williams used the melodies and instrumentation of Mars as the inspiration for his soundtrack for the Star Wars films (specifically The Imperial March)
Hans Zimmer closely used the melodies, instrumentation and orchestration of Mars as the inspiration for his soundtrack for the movie Gladiator to the extent that a lawsuit for copyright infringement was filed by the Holst foundation
12" NTSC LaserDisc back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
In Venus, Holst incorporated music from an abandoned vocal work, A Vigil of Pentecost, to provide the opening; the prevalent mood within the movement is of peaceful resignation and nostalgia. Mercury is dominated by uneven metres and rapid changes of theme, to represent the speedy flight of the winged messenger.
12" NTSC LaserDisc back cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Holst adapted the melody of the central section of Jupiter in 1921 to fit the metre of a poem beginning I Vow to Thee, My Country. As a hymn tune it has the title Thaxted, after the town in Essex where Holst lived for many years, and it has also been used for other hymns, such as O God beyond all praising and We Praise You and Acknowledge You with lyrics by Rev. Stephen P. Starke. It is by far the best-known melody of the suite.
12" NTSC LaserDisc sleeve
photo by Styrous®
Holst died in London on 25 May 1934, at the age of 59, of heart failure following an operation on his ulcer. His ashes were interred at Chichester Cathedral in Sussex, close to the memorial to Thomas Weelkes, his favourite Tudor composer. Bishop George Bell gave the memorial oration at the funeral, and Vaughan Williams conducted music by Holst and himself.
On 27 September 2009, after a weekend of concerts at Chichester Cathedral in memory of Holst, a new memorial was unveiled to mark the 75th anniversary of the composer's death. It is inscribed with words from the text of The Hymn of Jesus: "The heavenly spheres make music for us". In April 2011 a BBC television documentary, Holst: In the Bleak Midwinter, charted Holst's life with particular reference to his support for socialism and the cause of working people.
On 27 September 2009, after a weekend of concerts at Chichester Cathedral in memory of Holst, a new memorial was unveiled to mark the 75th anniversary of the composer's death. It is inscribed with words from the text of The Hymn of Jesus: "The heavenly spheres make music for us". In April 2011 a BBC television documentary, Holst: In the Bleak Midwinter, charted Holst's life with particular reference to his support for socialism and the cause of working people.
Tracklist:
1 Opening Logos
2 Main Title
3 Blast Off
4 Mars: The Bringer of War
5 Venus: The Bringer of Love
6 Interlude
7 Mercury: The Winged Messenger
8 Interlude
9 Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity
10 Interlude
11 Saturn: The Bringer of Age
12 Interlude
13 Uranus: The Magician
14 Neptune: The Mystic
15 End Credits
Notes:
One Sided Extended Play.
Distributed Exclusively by Image Entertainment.
Made In USA
Copyright 1991 Don Barrett Productions, Inc.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Barcode: 01438184216
Tomita – The Planets
Label: Malibu Video, Inc. – ID8421DB
Format: Laserdisc, 12", Stereo, NTSC
Country: US
Released: 1991
Genre: Electronic, Classical
Style: Modern Classical
Viewfinder links:
Benjamin Britten
Gustav Holst
Michael Tippett
Net link:
Gustav Holst website
Gustav Holst Recordings
YouTube links:
The Planets ~
Mars, The Bringer of War
Venus, The Bringer of Peace
Mercury, The Winged Messenger
Jupiter the Bringer of Jollity & Saturn the Bringer of Old Age
Uranus, The Magician
Neptune, The Mystic
The LaserDisc, Gustav Holtz ~ The Planets, is for sale on eBay
Styrous® ~ Friday, September 21, 2018
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