“Jupiter” (or movement 4 of Holst’s “The Planets”, Op. 32: Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity) is one of my favorite classical pieces and has been since I was very young. I remember one of the first times I listened to it, my mother told me that it was an inspiration for the music from “Star Trek”. I was going through a bit of a Star Trek phase at the time, so I was instantly curious. I listened closely for the first few minutes, and it was immediately apparent. Now, I’m not much more than a casual enjoyer of Star Trek, but my love for this piece hasn’t changed one bit.

The first section seems to put an emphasis on the jollity of “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity”, undertoned by grandiose strings that reminds me as a listener that Jupiter, both the planet and the mythical counterpart, is the greatest of the group. The conclusion of this part is a crash and short, quiet musical phrase that speaks as if Jupiter the god held up his hand and brought a pause to his court without disturbing its jolly mood.

The second part is a shift in tone, from joy and grandiosity to a section that moves and flows with authority and emotion working together. As the music swells, I feel each chord in my chest more and more emphasized by the accompanying timpani. The I don’t just hear the notes of the music; the I become a participant.The third and final part of the work brings back the familiar jollity of the first, but now with the impact and authority of the second part. It feels charming and familiar, becoming greater and more powerful to the last few seconds of the finale that stick in my head long past the end of the music itself.

For me, the thing that makes “Jupiter” unique is in the way it conveys power without disturbing the other moods that make it great. The crashes at the end of the first and last sections crystallize the emotion instead of shattering it. The middle section brings massive swells of emotion to the near-chaos of the other two without contradicting them. Every part works together to create a song that’s unforgettable even over a century since its creation, and I think that’s something special.

– Kyle