There were only eight known planets in the solar system when Gustav Holst composed his orchestral suite, consisting of seven tone poems (leaving out Earth, and before Neil DeGrasse Tyson killed “Pluto”) in the middle of World War I.

This is one of the great “chestnuts” or “war horses” of classical music. Those are the “greatest hits” of this world, ones trotted out by orchestras far and wide when they’re in need of a crowd-pleaser.

Lucas lore has it that George L. used Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” as his temp score and “inspiration” in editing “Star Wars,” and that John Williams paid homage to the thundering themes of this towering work, as well as the music Erich Wolfgang Korngold composed for the Ronald Reagan melodrama “King’s Row” when Williams put together his score.

You can REALLY hear “Star Wars” aborning in the martial thumping of “Mars.” A great orchestra pins you in your seat when they perform it. But there are hints of Williams’ inspiration in several of the separate tone poems.

This damned good symphony orchestra will refresh one’s memories of these connections, I suspect.