The fifteenth classical recording: #580 Gustav Holst - The Planets
A fifty minute piece, rather than the two and a half hours from before? It feels like a cakewalk now. These are seven connected sections, one for each of the astrological planets (so no Earth) and before Pluto was discovered. They are linked in motives and sound different - Mars is bombastic, Venus gentle, Mercury more ethereal. They make for quite pleasing, varying sounds that made me sit up every time a new planet came along as they sounded so different. You can mostly tell which planet is being covered based on the music being played, which feels like a special achievement on its own.