The Planets

Benjamin Britten delves into the hallucinatory verses of Arthur Rimbaud with youthful enthusiasm in the song cycle Les Illuminations, a rare foray into the French language for a composer renowned for his contributions to English music. Alongside Britten’s cycle is a much-loved work by an Englishman of an earlier generation: Gustav Holst’s The Planets launches the pastoral tradition into the extraterrestrial realm, conjuring up the star signs with...