This sensational live concert band performance of Gustav Holst’s most famous work, "The Planets," Opus 32, was recorded on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, at Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall, Alexandria, Va.
 
This wonderful arrangement was transcribed by Merlin Patterson in 1997/98. Before then, there was no complete transcript of The Planets suite that existed for concert band. Holst had personally arranged but not transcribed Mars and Jupiter for concert band ensemble, nor had he transcribed any of the other movements in the suite for a concert band ensemble. This recording by the U.S. Marine Band is special because it’s a complete and true transcription of the original suite. Patterson has taken everything from that orchestral suite, changing or omitting nothing, and presenting it in its original key.
 
Conducted by Major Michelle A. Rakers, "The President’s Own" United States Marine Band do a magnificently spirited performance of this concert band arrangement.
 
The suite has seven movements, each named after a planet and its corresponding astrological character:
I. Mars, the Bringer of War
II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace
III. Mercury, the Winged Messenger
IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
V. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
VI. Uranus, the Magician
VII. Neptune, the Mystic