Customer Reviews

The Tomita Planets

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After reading a few of the other reviews I had to write one of my own. These guys just don't get it! They keep griping about it not being true to the original work by Holst. The fact is that it was never meant to be like the original. Tomita is telling a story here using electronic music and effects, and he does a fantastic job of it! If the other reviewers just listened without all the judgenent they could see a story unfold in their minds through the awesome expressivness of Tomita's sounds. It goes like this: two friends blast off in space ships, they patrol around, they get some r&r, then there is a huge space battle and one of them gets lost. The other pilot calls to his friend, they can barely hear each other and the lost one knows he isn't coming back. Together they sing their planetary anthem, then the lost guy is taken by a space storm. This version of The Planets is well worth owning, it has a true emotional appeal and different people see different stories as they listen. It takes an open mind that isn't cluttered with expectations to really get into this experience.

This 1976 release by Japanese electronic composer Isao Tomita presents his all-electronic adaptation of The Planets Op. 32, which was written during 1914-1916 by British composer Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934). Holst is best known for this orchestral suite, although he hated the publicity it generated. As a huge fan of 1970's progressive rock, I have listened to my fair share of prog rock bands interpreting bits and pieces of The Planets, e.g. King Crimson, Morgan etc., so an electronic version of the entire work really piqued my curiosity.

Isao plays what sounds like an RMI electric harpsichord, pipe organ, string synthesizer (I think), in addition to the mini-moog synthesizer, which is an instrument that seems to generate an infinite number of sounds, at least in his hands. The sounds of the moog synthesizer dominate this recording and evoke the vacuum and cold of outer space, but are also quite sensitive as well. The seven pieces range in length from 5'22" to 17'26", are blended together (unlike the original) and cover a range of moods and dynamics - much like the original work. Isao injects his own personality into each piece, so I found the listening experience to be very interesting, and at times pretty funny (he has a great sense of humor).

Mars has been called the most devastating piece of music ever written and I think that Isao more or less pulls this piece off, although there are some slightly silly sounding synthesizer tones that render the piece as somewhat less than devastating. Venus was intended to be a dreamy and airy movement and Isao does an incredible job with spacey synth textures. This is my favorite movement and probably the most successful. Mercury - Isao certainly had a lot of fun with this, and the synth sounds are pretty bouncy and vibrant, without being goofy. Jupiter represents the prime of life. Isao injects a little humor into Jupiter by using a synth tone that sounds like a human voice humming the central melody. Saturn was Holst's personal favorite and was intended to show that old age is not always peaceful and happy. I think that Isao conveys this pretty darn well with some creepy and occasionally agitated synth textures. Uranus is a quirky scherzo that displays very odd sounding synth tones and percussion before the tranquility of the closing movement Neptune, which features an electronic version of the female choir included in the original work.

While some movements work better than others, I think that overall, this is a great adaptation of a very important work. Recommended to electronica fans along with other albums by Isao Tomita including Snowflakes are Dancing (1974), which presents his electronic interpretation of Claude Debussy.

I first heard this recording when it was released, 24 years ago. I had only recently discovered Tomita via his "Pictures at an Exhibition" (a masterpiece) and I was eager to hear what new thrills Tomita would unleash in "Planets". I listened to the record once, took it off the turntable, and threw it in the trash. Fortunately, I reconsidered a short while later and retrieved it. "Planets", after all, is even better than "Pictures". What caused that initial reaction of mine was not that it is that bad, but that it is that different. My expectations had been completely shaken up.

Tomita has transformed Holst's "Planets" from a suite to a unified whole. No longer a series of musical sketches, it tells a story-and this is why he introduced "extraneous" sounds and effects and doesn't include every last note that Holst wrote. I'm restraining myself from describing the story or devices for fear of cheapening the effect for others-for me Tomita's "Planets" is beautiful, thrilling, frightening, joyous, poignant, and haunting. It's no wonder to me why Holst's estate tried to suppress this recording: it totally obviates the need for any other recording or performance of this music.

A note on the sound: not all of BMG's remixing of Tomita's albums for Dolby Surround were entirely successful. This one is. It is a joy technically as well as musically. Concept, performance, execution: one of the greatest discs of all time.

This album is a virtual sonic roller coaster! I bought my first Tomita album (cassette: Pictures At An Exhibition) over 20 years ago and I was absolutely astounded by Tomita's soaring, expansive synthesizer virtuosity. About that same period, I was attending college and one particularly interesting class was Music Appreciation. This was where I first heard the Moussorgski (forgive any misspelling) epic piece (Ravel's version). Being an aficianado of electronic music, I was most eager to hear how Tomita treated it. WOW, I was hooked and purchased subsequent Tomita works. Thank goodness the CD finally came along, because I wore out all my cassettes!

I first heard this album almost 25 years ago. Some purists may have a problem with this rendition of "The Planets". All I really have to say is I am very glad I picked this CD (album) up again. To me it is one of the most sonically beautiful things I have ever heard. For a first time Tomita listener I would highly recommend this CD while you can still get it. And for those of you who don't "get it" you should try a listen or two again and maybe you will realize the true beauty of this CD.

I haven't heard every electronic music album recorded but I can safely say that as far as electronic renditions of classical music goes, this is the best one ever. It's simply amazing. Mind you Pictures and Snowflakes are amazing too, but I just love the Planets in general because I love space and Holst. Holst' use of mood and atmosphere is fantastic, and this is exactly what Tomita captured in his version which is full of bloops and bleeps and phasers and swooshes as well as amazing choirs and strings; its an aural adventure unmatched. One reviewer here felt that these effects were too much or ruined the recording, frankly I dont understand. Tomita is not going for realism, hes not trying to replicate the symphonic score Holst wrote, he is using the amazing versatility of the synthesizer and what was then the state of the art electronic signal processing to create a new interpretation of the score. It works for me, as it works for most all fans of Tomita, the real master of electronic music.

One of my favorite "transcriptions" of Planets. Listening to this in college introducted me to classical works that has led to life long love of good music. Tomita had the ability to help you "visualize" music, through sound. Wonder what ever happened to him...he seems to have disappeared after the early 80's?

Tomita is must listening for anyone into both classical music and electronic music. Tomita's version of Holst's the Planets is an interpretation of the symphony on an array of analog synthesizers (think Moog) and other recording equipment. He throws in his own twists into Holst's score and makes it sound quite modern (for 1976). I'd say that if you like electronic music, you must own two essential albums by Tomita, The Planets and Snowflakes are Dancing. If you've ever seen Carl Sagan's series, Cosmos, or watched Star Gazer on PBS, you'll recognize the background music as Isao Tomita.

Tomita used synthesizers to reinterpret this orchestral masterpiece in a very original manner. It is this recording which convinced me that synthesizers are truly capable of sensitive musical expression. It still amazes me what he accomplished with the tools he had available to him at the time. Many other reviewers below seem to have issue with the "weird electronic sounds" Tomita used in this interpretation. Of course they will sound weird to those expecting some kind of imitation of an orchestra. But I think to appreciate it, one has to be open to another sort of imagery entirely. It's simply a case of an artist interpreting another artist's work, resulting in an extremely imaginative rendition.

Tomita's version gives me something the orchestra does not, and it is kind of difficult to explain. It brings a different set of images to me when I hear it, much more in tune with what I think of as "space." I for one think Venus is absolutely beautiful, haunting, and sad.

If you want a comfortable, familiar performance (true to the notes on the page, so to speak), buy an orchestral recording. If you want (and are open to) an original interpretation, which focuses on the outer space aspect of the idea of "planets" rather than their astrological meanings, then you will enjoy this CD.

...a very good article of robert moog can be found in Salon Netzine's "Brilliant Careers" series. Tomita used moog synthesizers, plasma synthesizers, perhaps paleolithic sequencing techniques and various other electronic devices and programmers--and many other things I am admittedly very, very ignorant of--to get this awesome arrangement of Holst's most famous work. It is about thirty years old and is still mind boggling today. Ya gotta hear it! Listen for Tomita's "Bolero" by Ravel, too. Quite the listening experience, I must say.