Gustav Holst was an English composer best known for The Planets, a seven-movement orchestral suite written in 1914 to 1916 that gives each planet a character, from the warlike Mars to the jolly Jupiter. He had hoped to be a pianist, but a nerve problem in his right arm ended that plan. He supported himself by playing trombone and teaching, and he ran the music programme at Morley College for years. The Planets made him famous only after the First World War, and he disliked the attention. His austere later style fell out of fashion, and much of his music was neglected until recordings returned in the 1980s.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.