Galaktisch

»My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos« – or do you prefer »Mary’s Virgin
Explanation Made Joseph Suspect Upstairs Neighbour«? Either way, where would we be without mnemonics! These two, for the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, are helpful educational tools. The celestial body Pluto is not part of our mnemonics, as it was judged too small a few years ago and therefore banned from the list of planets. In Gustav Holst’s magnificent orchestral work The Planets, Pluto does not shine either, for it had not been discovered in 1914, when the composer began working on the score. The sonic astrologer Holst portrays his cosmic protagonists as »Bringer of War« (Mars), »Bringer of Peace« (Venus) and »Mystic« (Neptune), for example, crafting a brilliant acoustic horoscope with a masterful instrumentation. The famous French violinist Renaud Capuçon, on the other hand, embarks upon a journey through the infinite vastness of Samuel Barber’s bacchantic Violin Concerto. Harry Ogg – a familiar figure on the Gürzenich Orchestra’s conductor’s podium – makes the stars shine.