This 100 year old music sounds EXACTLY like Star Wars 

It's Star Wars week!!! Apparently. Seriously though, check out The Planets. So much of today's movie sound is heavily influenced it. What other works do you know of that have had similar impacts on the movie scores we know today??

At the end of the first live performance of The Planets, Holst said: “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.”

According to the interviews inside the making of Star Wars, Lucas wanted to use that music (Planets) and John Williams offered to write something to that effect. Holts' music was in fact used for the temporary soundtrack while editing the movie.

Gustav Holst's "The Planets" is one of those pieces of music that never gets old. And it's the same with John Williams cinematic music. You can tell he was heavily influenced by Holst. That's not anywhere close to stealing. Everyone is influenced by others. That's pretty natural. You just hope someone is influenced in a good way.

For me, ‘Neptune’ is my favorite; absolutely amazing. It sounds so genuinely otherworldly. Doesn't sound ANYTHING like something that should be coming out of the late-1910s-or even the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, honestly. Incredible stuff.

Lucas originally was going the use "The Planets" for Star Wars until Spielberg recommended John Williams to him. Lucas asked Williams to keep the feel of "The Planets" in his score.

When Star Wars first came out in '77, I was a huge Holst fan. I immediately noticed the influence. I always thought it was deliberate because it was so obvious.

Wow. I’m not even a classical fan and I love The Planets. My parents used to listen to this all the time. What an inspiration for Williams.

9.30 that's called "thaxted" from Jupiter and it is well known as the melody to the hymn "I vow to thee my country" (actually adapted by Holst himself as he was asked to set a poem to music and he was relieved to find they fitted to this music he had already written) and the song "World In Union" which has accompanied every Rugby Union World Cup since 1997 when it was first sung by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

“A good composer does not imitate; he steals.” -Igor Stravinsky

I remember an interview where Lucas said he wrote the scenes in Star Wars with specific existing compositions in mind. He then turned those over to John Williams when it came time for him to score the film. I wouldn’t be surprised if Holst’s works were some of them.

I discovered "The Planets" suite back when I was 15 and it's been a favorite of mine since. I finally got to hear it performed live by my local philharmonic orchestra early last year.

Before I ever saw “Star Wars,” I had listened to the soundtrack LP about thirty or forty times. I was raised listening to classical music and I had heard many similar styles and themes in Williams’s score. One remarkable similarity is the cue where we see C-3PO and R2-D2 on the surface of Tatooine for the first time. The back-and-forth rocking of the woodwinds was not just familiar to me, but so was the key. It’s from Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring.” A desolate, arid, and hostile sound perfect for the droids landing spot.

Funny. The first song that came to mind when you played "Jupiter" was Disney's Hercules' "Go the Distance", which is a scene where he's literally going to Zeus' temple. You know. Jupiter's.

George Lucas had placed "Mars: The Bringer of War" as a temp-track over the opening of Star Wars when it was in it's rough cut stage so it makes sense that John Williams would emulate it when composing the actual score.

For inspiration when writing the music for Star Wars, Williams turned to one of the most seminal pieces of art in the history of music; The Planets by Gustav Holst. This orchestral masterclass is not well known in popular culture, but its impact on modern cinema is vast

I can't believe that you didn't mention that the "Neptune" piece by Holst was eerily similar to the theme that John Williams composed for the "Otoh Gunga" underwater sequences in Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace; if you didn't know, Neptune was the Roman god of the sea/ocean, hence the underwater reference/connection. Also, Williams was influenced by Tchaikovsky, especially when he composed the "Across the Stars" love theme for Padme and Anakin for Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3, as it is eerily similar to parts of "Swan Lake", like the "Swan Theme" and others. Parts of Anakin/Vaders' theme/Imperial March are also eerily similar to parts of "Swan Lake". I discoverd the Tchaikovsky connection by accident when I was little, as I frequently listened to "Swan Lake" and other pieces that were on CDs that my parents got me. Really cool stuff! That's what makes those George Lucas era SW soundtracks so timeless! May the Force be with you!

A key thing to remember about Star Wars is that at the time it was made, in many ways it was a throwback. Sci fi and fantasy were out of style; the American public was still reeling from Watergate and Vietnam; vigilantes, antiheroes, and other morally grey main characters were big. Along comes Star Wars, drawing on old Flash Gordon serials, westerns, war movies, Japanese samurai movies, fairy tales and mythology. It’s natural and of a piece with the whole that the score itself was also retro, drawing upon these early 20th century works.

I'm pretty sure, Holst would have become one of the most well known soundtrack composers of modern times if he had been born around the 50s or 60s. This man had a vision decades before it became what we know as orchestral soundracks today.

As a music lover and ex Horn player, I love your video clips. Your enthusiasm and joie de vivre regarding your topics is remarkable and so infectious. When you react with joy to something you're playing back it seems as if your face could light up the whole world not just the room. A similarity I picked up on a while ago now between a John Williams score and a possible inspiration from the "classical" repertoire is the almost note for note similarity of his Superman love theme and that composed by Richard Strauss towards the conclusion of "Tod und Verklarung". They differ rhythmically but oh dear, what a likeness ! Korngold's concert music was said to resemble Hollywood but as someone else pointed out it was Hollywood that began to resemble the concert hall !

What a great appreciation of an old composers work. Thanks for posting this video and bringing this cool retrospective.

1:44 I would argue that THAT part of Mars sounds less like The Imperial March and more like the piece they played in A New Hope when the Falcon was being drawn into the Death Star Hangar, which itself is a different rendition of the piece when the Falcon was fighting Tie Fighters during its escape. BTW, love the Holst suite.

John Williams has never been shy about admitting that he borrowed heavily from other composers to come up with the SW soundtracks BECAUSE he WANTED to reach down deep into peoples minds and pull those thematic memories up out if the dust and shake them back to life. He's never refrained from acknowledging any of this.

Think you for posting this - I'm in Spotify looking for the suite right now ❤

Gustav Holtz, extreme metal pioneer. Thank you for the introduction, the sounds you have isolated gave me goosebumps! I have something new to obsess over.

The ending of Neptune is really a whole different experience to hear in person. "until the imagination knew no difference between sound and silence" is very much true when you hear this performed in a dead-silent concert hall.

I've always thought it was brilliant that he used Mars as inspiration. As a music teacher I would play this for my kids and they would think it was Star Wars...It was such a great way to get them connected to classical music.

I've always loved the movie composers; Williams, Zimmer, the Pirates guys, Poledouris, Horner, Arnold, and you can hear echoes & reflections of The Planets in all their works. I don't hear so much Planets in Elfman or Silvestri though, but this might be due to the gritty, action-oriented nature of the movies they scored.

Some college friends recommended Holst Planets to me back in the late 80's and I loved it. I was a huge Star Wars fan long before I even heard this. I recognized it, but still loved it. As they say, imitation is the best form of flattery. Besides, who would even remember Holst Planets 60-70 years later. I have always loved classical orchestration my whole life and for me it would've been a matter of time before I had stumbled on it myself without any help from friends and family. Holst is still one of my all time favorites and the inspiration it engendered decades later. Awesome and Epic!!!

The Star Wars soundtrack was my first exposure to orchestral music. I even wrote to John Williams to thank him for opening me up to a new thing (He wrote back!). Later I discovered Wagner and Stravinsky, and ehen I listen to The Rite of Spring all I hear is bits of John Williams. I always saw most of John Williams' work to be attempts to replicate The Rite of Spring

I think "The Planets" must have been a massive influence on the works of John Williams, because many of his scores (not just Star Wars) feature elements clearly inspired by that suite. The themes to Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, and Jurassic Park could be substituted with themes from "The Planets" and they would still fit very well. It's incredible how that century-old music still has appeal in the present day. Even video game soundtracks like Halo and Destiny seem to be inspired by it, at least indirectly. "The Planets" is fantastic music that was far ahead of its time.

If there is one piece of work that took from the planets more than any other, it's the first battle in Gladiator by Hans Zimmer. If you listen to Mars and Zimmer's score side by side, they are nearly identical.

This is incredible. Thanks for sharing it!

When I listen to John Williams's scores I hear a lot of Holst and Wagner and Dvorak and Stravinsky and that's why I like John Williams's scores. He understands the greatness of those who came before, and how to honor their ideas in a way that has brought amazing music to new generations.

My old music teacher talked about how a lot of action movie pieces, including but not limited to star star wars, take inspiration and even include parts from mars

Page 130 of "EMPIRE BUILDING: The Remarkable Real Life Story of STAR WARS" by Garry Jenkins states that in Christmas of 1976, the staff at Industrial Light & Magic were shown the first cut of the STAR WARS trailer... which was backed with the overture from the MARS suite of "The Planets" by Gustov Holst. This was because it was used as a filler until John Williams finished the original soundtrack. The similarity exists because John Williams was instructed to compose a classical music soundtrack that resembled the work from "The Planets". It was intentional, not by chance. "The Planets" (by Gustav Holst) was used as a TEMPORARY backing sound track, because John Williams had not yet completed the score for the 1977 film at the time. The Planets score was also allegedly used for a test screening where entire VFX scenes were not yet completed and were simply replaced with a still image from the storyboards or a title card... or actual shots from B&W movies about WW2. Williams and Lucas agreed that modern electronic music would 'date the film' and possibly ruin the audience's ability to relate to the themes of the film. Williams first recommended that George consider listening to Hollywood composer Erich Korngold, who had scored Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk & Captain Blood. Now Captain Blood was the inspiration for the lightsaber duel between Kenobi and Vader and served as a template for the shots in Star Wars. An comparison of iconic Stills from both Captain Blood and Star Wars can be seen in the original 1977 movie companion magazine. The same "Planets" score was also applied to scenes in movies like "The Right Stuff" (1984) and (appropriately) "Gladiator" - and were suitably matched. John Williams motion picture score for Star Wars drew from the work of Gustav Holst whist retaining the same element of drama and scale - because it used the same instruments with a similar arrangement. Yet the similarity was deliberate. Because, as Williams explained to George "If you are looking at a film that is very strange but you hear music that is familiar it adds a warmth and human element to the piece". The first, brief public trailer for Star Wars came out in 1976 and featured none of William's music. You can see it here on RU-vid: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XHk5kCIiGoM.html

I bought a recording of the Planets almost 25 years ago and still listen to it. Fantastic music.

My understanding is that Lucas used the Mars Suite as a stand in for the theme for the movie, and then asked Williams to create something similar.

To me the Jupiter movement is always the British patriotic hymn "I Vow to Thee, My country". Great music and I agree John Williams didn't "steal" it, he was inspired by it.

I loved watching your face as you listened to the music. I could tell you’re really intoxicated by what the music does to you. It’s great and I can relate.

It was sampled beautifully! John William did a very good job paying homage to the beauty of The Planets.

I've loved listening and playing Holst's "The Planets" since I was a kid, and always thought John Williams was influenced by it. Holst was a visionary, truly inspiring.

All of “Star Wars” was an intentional throwback to the matinee serials of the 1930s and ‘40s. The operatic structure of the film, the black & white villains and heroes, the “wipes” transitioning from one scene to another are borrowed from the serials. Likewise the score hearkens to the sweeping, large-orchestra compositions that Korngold penned for swashbucklers like “Robin Hood,” “The Sea Hawk,” and “Captain Blood.” All these elements worked in “Star Wars” and subsequently “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” another throwback to the cliffhanger serials.

Music is the language of emotion, intuition. All musicians borrow words, phrases, and themes from others, and fold them into new works. It's one way we become intertwined with past/present/future.

Charles, just found your channel, well done!

What's wild is that I don't hear "Neptune" in Hedwig's Theme nearly as much as I do in the music of the opening establishing shots of every Williams-scored Star Wars movie- yk, the one which just sorta spirals out into the ether at the end of the main theme after the text crawls. When you first played it, that's what I recognized it as immediately.

This is already well known, especially among film makers and composers. George Lucas specifically asked Williams to reimagine Holst's Space compositions for Star Wars back in 1977

That's what I always liked about the Star Wars music, it felt old yet new... like the ships looking old and used but technology we don't have yet.

That choir bit from Neptune sounds exactly like the naboo underwater scene from the Phantom Menace. Amazing choice to go along with stunning visuals and the feeling of discovering an entire unseen society

Cool video. However I think this "debate" was settled long ago when it was revealed Lucas had scored the entire film with temp music before his friend Spielberg recommended he hire Williams after his positive experience on Sugarland Express. With only a few weeks, Williams had no choice but to follow the temp score closely. The main theme and opening chase were based on Kings Row's score by Korngold and also Holst's The Planets. The Tatooine scenes were based on the Rite of Spring by Stravinsky, the Cantina scene on Benny Goodman. With more time and budget on the subsequent films, Williams was able to flesh out his own sound and started incorporating fewer references from other composers with each new film. Wagner's Leitmotif concept pretty much remains the only direct classical influence Williams has used throughout the entire saga.

It's wonderful John Williams and other composers have used Holst as inspiration, it's great.

The Planets was used by Lucas as the temp track, so it's really no wonder Williams' score lifted sections wholesale from Holst.

Gustav Holst is the composer everyone knows but they don't realize they know him (or his compositions). The Planets is arguably the most influential musical suite on modern movie musical composition. I had the fortune of playing the suite in concert band and marching to Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Mars. That Jupiter segment you played was so beautifully portrayed in Braveheart and Neptune's ending, searching for nothingness beyond the last known planet is so beautifully haunting. The Planets is, hands down, my favorite musical suite ever written. Also, I have not ever been able to confirm, but rumor has it that George Lucas introduced John Williams to the Planets and told him he wanted Star Wars to have that sound.

Fun fact: John Williams made a recording of Holts Planets in 1986 with the Boston Pops Orchestra for the Philips label.

No matter how great an artist is...they are always heavily influenced by the past. Even Holtz' work here was...it is just that he was the first to do it in the age of recording. Art is truly a scaffolding of one layer presenting and leading to the next. Great video!! Am glad it just abruptly "popped up".

Didn't know about this influence. Looking forward to listening!

I'm 2 years late to this video, but I am so moved by it. It made me think about this: are we not simply resampling/rearranging/reimagining ideas articulated in the past? For instance: the pure sound of let's say a piano, its signature sound has been reused over and over again in different forms, tones, speeds, etc. All music is a work in progress and we get to be a part of it. (even if we are only a tiny part of it). Humbling and inspiring at the same time! (btw it's nice to see that I am not the only one that gets moved to the point of crying by listening to great harmonies). Thanks for provoking that thought and for recommending this album that was ahead of its time. Greetings from Guatemala!

I first heard Holst's "The Planets" in Tomita's synthesized version. I was already a fan of Carlos' "Switched-On Bach". When a friend went to see Star Wars in 1977, I asked if the music used was "The Planets", but he said no. Ah, but when I saw it I could hear many influences. I bought the LP of the soundtrack and made a cassette tape that I played in my car (on a small portable player, sitting on the passenger seat) and played it every day when going to film school at Loyola Marymount. I still love Holst and Williams!

Williams used bits from ‘Mars’ usually during scenes relating to Vader. Since Mars was the god of war, I think it’s a signal to the audience who Vader is going to be throughout the films.

I have heard one or two of the movements from that suite. But have never listened to the entire thing. Will have to do that now.

I don't remember when I first heard the Jupiter movement, but as far as I can remember I have known the song with great detail. My kids were watching Bluey, and there's an episode that uses Jupiter as the base song while Bingo is flying around space. I had the opportunity to introduce my kids to The Planets. They love it.

When I was a senior in high school, we played both Mars and Jupiter in wind ensemble. Not some watered down version, the legit thing. It was crazy hard and it took us the entire school year to perfect it, but we pulled it off. We played abridged versions of those in our marching band show that year too. I will never forget, being in the Pennsylvania mountains, with the amazing fall foliage all around us, while some of my best friends and I played the middle part of Jupiter which he features in this video, one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. It was sublime.

Holst's the Planets is amazing and epic, but a TON of classical music is, and a ton if it is also older than 100 years. Too few people realize this...

This is really interesting. I've often heard these pieces and thought they sounded like film scores!

fascinating. great find.

10:45 - No mention that it was the first time ever in the history of composition (that we know of) that featured a fade out? Every single piece of music before that had a well-defined ending. "Neptune" broke that one cardinal 'rule'. How can you have a piece of music that doesn't have some sort of final note? It must have blown some people's minds.

Neptune still very much sounded like Star Wars, more so than Harry Potter, I think. Neptune reminded me a lot of Tatooine and Luke, maybe Leia

I had a teacher say "the good composers borrow from others, the great ones steal from them."

This is my introduction to Holst -- wow! Love the music and can really see where the influence for Star Wars comes from. Neptune is so cool.

The first time I heard "The Planets" by Gustav was in my high school orchestra. We were deciding on a piece to play that will occupy the time we had left which was nearly 80 minutes. At first we considered a Rhapsody. I personally enjoy "An Irish Rhapsody" by Clare Grudman. Which is an exceptional piece I'd advise you to check it out. When we were about to vote on our piece, a kid from the brass section suggested the song 'The Planets'. To which my coach smiled and stated "Haven't heard that song in years." So the day after we got our sheet music. Because I was a contra bass clarinet player, and the only one of the clarinet players that could read bass clef, I got to play with the low brass. And when I say I felt chills just after the first song, I mean it. The first read through went so well, but I was exceptionally excited for our concert in which this piece would be presented last, and Neptune has such a beautiful ending that it was the perfect way to end! Okay, I'm a huge music need, shut up lol! I was moved by the music so much that I practiced for months leading to our concert, in which we competed with other bands to win $10,000 and a complete band room make over complete with new instruments (Apparently a bass flute exists???? I didn't know that until we won) So obviously we were excited. We were the poorest band in the state so we really needed this. When we came to the stage I can't even remember what we played other than The Planets because it was just that memorable of a piece. When we got to Mars the bring up filled my eyesite with a brilliant dark red as it began to crescendo the orange and black was piecring, you could feel the audience gasp. The horns the trumpets, sounded so magical! Then the strings entered with yellow slowly drifting around them. Strings and trumpets are a brilliant combination! You can almost imagine such a magnificent movie seen in your head. It really does and forever will have a connotation with Starwars because Starwars was glorious at the story telling moving with the music. You can see the good guy finally getting the upper hand, but what's this? The bad guy played a trick on you! And now your at the mercy of your worst enemy. The bad guy creeps closer and closer as the goodguy attempts to scramble away. And BOOM! The blowing of the trumpets indicates that death has been bestowed apon our hero. And we fade to black. Wait. It's not over! Slowly creeping by the side is the real hero! The crescendo and decrescendo indicate creeping closer and then getting too far way. And then closer. You never know when it's going to happen, so you're anxious. And then THE SIXTENTH NOTES! THE CLASSIC! Epic battle!! IM GOING WILD WITH THE LOW BRASS BLOWING OUT AIR BUT BEING SURE TO KEEP MY CORRECT OMBISURE SO I DONT SQUEAK. The goodguy has a lead! Anyway- I can write a 500 word essay on this piece it is absolutely magnificent! So we won the contest! Got a whole new band room! Weird new instruments (mostly percussion 😒) and so much money to help our band get better! We won regional that year!!

Lucas told JW he wanted similar music and gave it to him as a temp score

I love this video. Also, all of your improv off of Cardi B is perfectly done and hilarious. I love Holst AND John Williams. He definitely paid attention to the reference tracks and works very hard to give the directors what they want. One of my favorite quotes regarding film and music is between John Williams and Stephen Spielberg. After watching Schindler's List, John Williams was quoted as saying "You need a better composer than I am for this film." with Spielberg hilariously responding, "I know. But they're all dead!".

My Dad had this album. When I was into Star Wars, I randomly pulled this one out and listened to it and loved it.

I absolutely LOVE The Planets, especially the Jupiter Suite. It moves me every time. It is probably my favourite piece of classical music. I can definitely see the influences John Williams chose to indulge in. Holst was way ahead of his time.

Incredible!! I had no idea

I did a very similar presentation in my graduate school music program comparing both Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings to The Planets. The 5/4 meter in Mars is definitely utilized by Howard Shore for the villainous orcs in The Lord of the Rings. I also felt he paid homage to Saturn with Treebeard's theme: those long, low alternating chords in the strings giving the feeling of the ageless ents. And Neptune's mystery can be felt in Galadriel's Lothlorien theme. It has that female chorus singing unconventional harmonic progressions. Great stuff! I love things like this!

Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’ bears an uncanny resemblance to the music we associate with a particular large white shark. I think it’s a nice homage to great composers that their music was an inspiration for a modern audience.

I knew this video was gonna be on Holst's "The Planets" before I even clicked haha. John Williams is just an absolute master being inspired by other masters. And as another example of a master being inspired by other masters, I'm pretty sure Final Fantasy XIII-2 composer Naoshi Mizuta was inspired by the passage at 04:29 in a specific portion of the "Caius Ballad's Theme" that he wrote for that game. As musicians we all inspire one another, across different cultures and eras. That's the beauty of music!

It is possible he heard the original piece somewhere, then part of the melody stuck in his head. He discovered later unconsciously.

The Sleepytime episode of Bluey uses Jupiter absolutely perfectly! It's also the basically the theme for the Ruby World Cup

It is even more incredible to have the opportunity to perform The Planets in an orchestra. Just thinking back it still gives me goosebumps. It was a lot of preparation too.

Geezer Butler, the bassist for Black Sabbath, was a fan of Holst's The Planets and was playing Mars The Bringer of War on his bass, which inspired Tony Iommi, the guitarist, to write the song Black Sabbath.

Came here for a Music Appreciation project about how John Williams was influenced by classical composers and stayed because it actually made sense. Am subscribed now. Keep it up

Holst "The Planets" version is one of my all-time favorite symphonies. I used to listen to it when I was in the Navy when Walkman tape decks came out.

When i listened "The Planets" for the first time, it was "by accident" and i wasnt familiar with Holst and the storys around him. With every note played i was more and more sure that i discovered something big here and i have to tell all my friends about it. Little did i know.

This was so great. I was telling my sisters, I wish Dad were around to see you share this. He had the planets album, which I hated as a kid (noisy, obnoxious, pretentious - now that I know more: awesome), but he had only seen and heard Star Wars one time before he passed. So I think if he saw you explain this, he would crack up because it's so great and so true and it shows that... timelessness of genius that samples the air of the future and goes with it.

funny how influence and inspiration works, and going back to dive deeper into the original sources.

I used to listen to the Planets on repeat. Once instilled, it never leaves you. It’s influence is astounding.

Holst be like “ Your grand kids are gonna love this”

"Great artists steal", right? 😅 Williams's Star Wars score is brilliant in its own right, and wears its influence on its sleeve. Nonetheless absolutely fantastic! When I'm writing songs, I feel like I end up melding together all my favourite bands, I guess it's a perfectly natural thing to do! 😊

Love John Williams. All music is inspired by previous music. I just ordered the planets. Looking forward to the experience. Thanks

Charles, your videos are amazing and simply a breeze to watch and listen to. It is interesting that Hans Zimmer is referred by you to as being not so much about creating melodies, when Hans Zimmer himself always talks about the melody as the central part of his compositions 😅 But I get what you mean. John Williams is much more an evolution of the modern symphonical style like Mahler, Holst and others (especially when it comes to brass and strings). And they both (Zimmer and Williams) come from a completely different musical education too. Williams, being able to write complete scores in notes and by hand and rehearsing them with a piano (like a classical composer or comductor) and Zimmer, being traumatised by his piano teacher at a young age and therefore decided to just compose by using sound and technology. When looking at Zimmer’s work he also used complete sections from classical pieces. When I was young (I’m from 1984) I loved the lion king. And being a musician myself I loved the music (and still do). But even back then I was puzzled and surprised about the fact that in the scene where Simba’s father is dead, there is a whole piece of music that is a 1:1 copy of a section from the “Ave verum corpus” from Mozart. I sang that piece when I was in a boys choir. Still being a 1:1 copy the context of using this melody makes it unique and special.

Every time I hear that chord repetition I just think of Tarkin’s expression right before the Death Star explodes. So epic

"Good composer borrow, great composer steal!" -Igor Stravinsky Speaking of which, Rite of Spring was also 'lifted' for scenes on Tatooine.

One of your best!

I knew it was gonna be Holst. I've loved it since high school. That ostinato in Mars slaps so hard.

Regarding Holst's "The Planets", it's worth noting that he wasn't drawing on the astronomy about each planet - astronomy knew where the planets were, and a few basic facts about them, but it wasn't like Voyager 2 had popped by for a visit yet. Instead, he was drawing heavily on astrology and the mythology of the Roman gods they were named after. And in my opinion one of the most interesting John Williams scores in existence is for "A.I.", where he got a lot more experimental than he often does.

The Planets was used heavily in Philip Kauffman’s film “The Right Stuff”, and used very effectively. Since the first time I heard The Planets when I was in high school, I was struck by the cinematic quality of the score. This revelation for me was two years before Star Wars premiered, so imagine my shock and surprise when I heard John William’s score. I was shocked, and very pleased.

Thank you so much for this video! 😃 I was reading a book this evening that mentioned Holst’s The Planets so I wanted to listen, and while I was listening I was like wait a minute! 😲 This sounds exactly like Star Wars - eerily so!! Which lead me down the rabbit hole that ended to your video! Which explains it all so well! I appreciate it. ☺️ These moments are when one can be glad to be living in the age of the Internet. I’m still listening to The Planets right now and each one is just blowing my mind how it sounds like EVERYTHING in cinematic music. This is mind-boggling ahead of its day! I can’t imagine being someone in 1910s listening to this music either. No wonder why it made Holst so famous. But it makes sense that Holst would be unknown to the masses now. Those who pave the way usually are the ones forgotten, but their innovative and prescient legacies live on in flourishing and beautiful ways.

Definitely it inspired the score after hearing this. Wow. Never knew about this … inspired imitation is still creative. I agree he should have put in a footnote or something.