Holst's "The Planets" Relevant Once More

With the demotion of Pluto from planet to plutoid, Gustav Holst's most famous symphonic work, "The Planets," is suddenly relevant again. The seven-movement suite does not include Pluto and was actually intended to reflect Holst's interest in astrology, which is why a movement dedicated to Earth was never written.

Though Pluto was discovered in 1930, four years before Holst died, he never expressed any interest in composing an eighth movement. Perhaps he was more ahead of his time than we thought.