Concert Band

The Planetarium

Grade 5

The Planetarium was commissioned by CMV Advendo Franeker - conductor, Siemen Hoekstra - to celebrate their 100th Anniversary in 2022. They gave the premiere on 5th November that year in a special anniversary concert in the Sporthal De Trije.

The inspiration for the work is the world-famous Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium in the orchestra’s home town of Franeker in the Netherlands. This 18th-century orrery was built between 1774 and 1781 by Eise Eisinga, an amateur astronomer and entrepreneur, and King William I, Prince of Orange, was so impressed with the building that he bought it and named it a royal planetarium. It is now the oldest working planetarium in the world and was declared a world heritage site in 2023.

The orrery features the six then-known planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) and composer Philip Sparke has created a continuous seven-movement work (opening with ‘Sun’), each of which describes individual characteristics he has attributed to the planets in their order in the solar system. Also featured throughout the work is a brief quotation from the chorale ‘Psalm 150’, which appears on the orchestra’s banner.