Before there was that famous, collectively hummable score from the opening credits of “Star Wars,” there was Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.”
First performed around the turn of the 20th century, the orchestral suite is composed of seven movements, each devoted to a planet and its astrological character — except for Earth and Pluto, which hadn’t yet been discovered and now is officially a planet no more.
The ASU Symphony Orchestra and Women’s Chorus will perform Holst’s masterpiece, accompanied by large-scale, breathtaking images from NASA and narration written especially for the performance by theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss. World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, author of “A Brief History of Time” and “The Grand Design,” will speak after the musical program.
The production is a project of the ASU Origins Project.
• Contact writer: (480) 898-6818 or azajac@evtrib.com
DETAILS >> 7 p.m. Saturday. ASU Gammage, 1200 S. Forest Ave., Tempe. $21.50-$133.95. (480) 965-3434 or ticketmaster.com.
