Venus, the Bringer of Peace

Listen to the work here!
 
Venus, the Bringer of Peace is an arrangement of the second movement of British composer Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets, with each of the seven movements based on a different planet of the solar system (not counting the Earth or Pluto, the latter of which hadn’t been discovered yet). Each movement is also inspired by the deity of Roman mythology that that planet is named after. Venus, also known as the goddess Aphrodite in Greek mythology, is the goddess of love, beauty, and prosperity as well as a “bringer of peace”, and in this way, the sublimity of Holst’s closely harmonized melodic lines serves to bring out this feeling of peace. With frequent changes in key center, the work grows out of the opening four note melody (originally presented by a solo French horn in the original orchestral score and here presented by the chimes), blossoming into a Romantic-infused melody in a compound meter.
 
This arrangement of Venus, the Bringer of Peace, and all other present and future arrangements of movements from The Planets, is scored for an ensemble of thirteen musicians (such that the full piece may one day be realized in a complete performance), including the following instrumentation: Crotales, Xylophone, Bells, Chimes, Marimbas 1, 2, & 3 (1 5.0 marimba required), Vibraphones 1, 2, & 3, Timpani (4), Percussion 1 & 2 (Triangle (Shared), Snare Drum, Crash Cymbals, Log Drum, Conga (Shared), Ocean Drum, Bass Drum, Tom-Tom, Shaker), Piano and Celesta.