Archive for Saturn the Bringer of Old Age

Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age

Posted in Music with tags , , , on August 12, 2025 by telescoper

I listened to a Proms performance of Gustav Holst’s The Planets the other night. It’s a piece I’ve heard dozens of times, but it was definitely the first time that I felt the most resonance with the Fifth movement, “Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age“. According to Wikipedia, this was Holst’s favourite section. It comprises three parts, “a slow processional which rises to a frightening climax before fading away as if into the outer reaches of space”. The central part has a touch of Charles Ives about it, I think.

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