The wealth of musical metaphor in each movement of The Planets explains the immediate popularity of the work, whether it was heard in its complete form or only in part. Furthermore, the use of different musical idioms within a movement not only added richness to the metaphoric effect, it broadened the audience to which the work might appeal. As mentioned earlier, approval was expressed by all levels of listeners, in provincial cities as well as in London. Anecdotes concerning charwomen dancing in the aisles balanced the more serious comments of reviewers, attesting to its democratic appeal. Holst's use of popular idioms back-to-back with more demanding styles and grammar might also have encouraged the listener to stick with him in the more difficult parts, to trust him to provide “compensation” for the effort required to make it through the work. In any case, the acclaim which followed the première, at least for the more general listener, would not have been rooted in the more abstract theoretical issues; nor would the general public have many among them who could hear the subtle transformation of musical figures which molds the contrasting movements into a coherent whole.

Given the success of the individual movements, it is tempting to stop at this point, and to accept the suite as a series of well-made tone poems. However, Holst's intention for the work to be taken as a single structure demands a deeper look at both his large-scale structural techniques and his use of idiom and compositional devices.