Music Monday ~ Holst, Jupiter, Hymn, and surprise, surprise...Rugby!

The only radio I listen to these days is music from BBC Radio 2 via internet, sometimes live sometimes "on demand". While listening to one such show the other day I heard a song with a very familiar melody but unfamiliar lyrics. Its title: World in Union. The song's melody originates in Gustav Holst's The Planets suite, is part of its 4th movement, Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity. The melody, known as "Thaxted", was originally adapted by Holst for its use in the patriotic hymn, I Vow to Thee My Country, based on a poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice.

So...that was the reason the melody was so familiar to me. We sang "We Vow...." in school assemblies, long ago, back in England, and it pops up regularly at almost every state funeral, royal wedding and other such events in the UK.

If in the right sort of mood, I'll enjoy a stately, full blast version of I Vow to Thee My Country, but I do like this gentler version by Beck Goldsmith - a recent use of the old hymn is as theme to a British TV series, The Village, which I intend to search for on Netflix. (Update: not yet available).




World in Union, with lyrics by Charlie Skarbek, uses the same melody, its words present a more all-encompassing loyalty, envisioning a time when people of the Earth might embrace our whole world rather than one individual nation. This is far more appropriate to Jupiter's astrological association with philosophy and expansive good feeling; music dedicated to that planet surrounds these lyrics.

World in Union is theme song of the Rugby World Cup. These lyrics attempt to capture a spirit of international friendship which, it is said, pervades rugby union culture the world over. (Rugby Union is something like American football - but not really, or so I'm told. I'm a complete ignoramus on sport). The song was commissioned by the sport's governing body in 1991, it has become synonymous with the "gathering of the nations" that the four-yearly tournament represents. 2015 is a Rugby World Cup year, as it happens.

New Zealand's Dame Kiri Te Kanawa's superb rendition of World in Union
~ Holst would be proud!



World in Union

There's a dream
I feel so rare, so real
All the World In Union
The world as one

Gathering together
One mind, one heart
Every creed, every colour
Once joined, never apart

Searching for the best in me
I will find what I can be
If I win, lose or draw
It's a victory for all

It's the World In Union
The world as one
As we climb to reach our destiny
A new age has begun

We face high mountains
Must cross rough seas
We must take our place in history
And live with dignity

It's the World In Union
The world as one
As we climb to reach our destiny
A new age has begun

Build a world
A World In Union
A new age has begun

Music Monday ~ MARS & MUSIC

The qualities and characteristics symbolised by astrological Mars have positive and negative places in the human personality. Ingrid Lind in her book Astrology & Commonsense describes the role of Mars thus:

Mars governs the prime of physical life. Rules or has affinity with the signs Aries and Scorpio. Keywords: energy, heat, activation.

Martian qualities give the fighting spirit which surmounts the difficulties and crises life so abundantly produces. The power to translate courage into action is the Mars in a man working at its highest level, with brutal aggressiveness and uncontrolled passion at the low end of the scale. The amount of 'libido' or vitality in its various manifestations is indicated by the strength of Mars in the chart. In moments of emergency where quick action is needed it is easy to distinguish those who make good use of their Martian qualities. In the same way those with this planet weak by both Sign and aspect tend to crumple. Literally they have no fight in them.

The sex life and attitude to sexual relations as opposed to merely affectionate relationships is largely conditioned by Mars in the chart. Harmonious aspects between Mars and Venus indicate a happy blending of passion and love: inharmonious aspects suggest that the individual has something to learn in the handling of these two.

Mars in mythology is god of war. War has to be the cumulative result of goup negative Mars manifestation, though a single strong Martian personality could incite war, it takes the group/mass to be willing to undertake the waging of it.

In music, a composition immediately springing to mind whenever Mars is mentioned has to be Mars the Bringer of War from Gustav Holst's The Planets.

What, we wonder, was a classical composer doing writing music depicting the "flavours" of the planets?

It appears that Holst, in 1913, travelled to Spain with one Clifford Bax, an astrologer, who introduced the composer to the concepts of astrology, no doubt providing the vision and inspiration for Holst's Planet Suite. Alan Leo, astrologer and theosophist might also take credit for such inspiration. Holst had an interest in theosophy via Alan Leo's book The Art of Synthesis. The book has chapters based on each planet, and describes the astrological characteristics of them.

Gustav Holst seemed to consider The Planets a progression of life. Mars, coming first, presents a rocky and tormenting beginning. In fact, some have called this movement the most devastaing piece of music ever written.
(See here)

Above version of Mars, Bringer of War is from this album:





Where else can the attributes of Mars be found in music?

The positive, energetic side of Mars is to be found in all rock music, I guess. Its negative side surfaces in violent lyrics.

A study of US college students suggests that songs with violent lyrics increase aggressive thoughts and emotions. The study contradicts a popular suggestion that music loaded with violent imagery, such as some rap and heavy metal, are cathartic in venting aggression.

Craig Anderson at Iowa State University and colleagues found that students who listened to songs with violent lyrics were more likely to make aggressive associations in subsequent psychological tests.

Although, the effects were measured over a short time only, the team believes listening to violent lyrics could have a long-term effect - contributing to the development of a more aggressive and confrontational personality.
"Aggressive thoughts can influence perceptions of ongoing social interactions, colouring them with an aggressive tint," said Anderson. "Listening to angry, violent music does not appear to provide the kind of cathartic release that the general public and some professional and pop psychologists believe."

(See here)



Can't finish without a mention of David Bowie's Is There Life on Mars? There's nothing about Mars itself in the song, whose title was probably inspired by a Brtitsh TV series called Life on Mars. Bowie's lyrics lend themselves to a variety of interpretations - like an abstract painting. Wikipedia explains it all.
(EDIT ~~~ Song inspired title of TV series, not t'other way around!)