I´m writing a new piece about the planets. And, yes, of course it is inspired by Holst famous orchestral suite. I couldn´t resist the temptation to do a musical painting of our corner of the universe once more, and I think I have found an interesting new idea for the task. This time the earth is included; the working title is Our Solar System. It is scored for chamber ensemble - flute, bass clarinet, horn, percussion (including maracas, marimba, rototoms and bass drum), guitar, violin and cello. I did Mercury some month ago, today I did Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. So you could say I am about half way through. I´m letting the music be influenced by the planets size and their distance from the sun, but also by the mythology behind their names (as Holst clearly did). Which principles I use I am saving for a later post.