‘Symphony of space’: an impressive piece of music inspired by NASA images

It could be the ultimate combination of art and science: a new seven-suite “space symphony” inspired and illustrated by the latest stunning images from space released by NASA.

World premiere outside of Washington last week ‘Cosmic Cycles: Symphony of the Universe’ (Cosmic Cycles: A Space Symphony) featured vivid images compiled by the US space agency along with the first public performance of the piece of music.

Henry Dehlingerits American composer, describes it as “almost a total work of art”.

“It’s not just music, it’s not just pictures, it’s not even music for a movie”he declared for AFP 56-year-old man before the presentation concert.

“It’s a more immersive experience that includes both visuals and sound”exactly.

An English composer did the same more than a century ago Gustav Holst, but when he wrote his famous ode Planetsmuch of astronomy remained only theoretical.

Since then, humans have walked on the moon, sent research labs to Mars, and explored the solar system with powerful telescopes that can peer billions of light years away.

Images from that research, which NASA producers combined into seven short films, served as inspiration for Dehlinger.

“I almost had to pinch myself and remind myself that this is not fiction, this is reality. It’s not science fiction, it’s real science.”he asserted.

Piotr Gajewskimusic director and director National Philharmonic Orchestrahe explained that the idea for the project came from previous work with NASA on images to accompany a double presentation of Claude Debussy’s “La Mer” (“The Sea”) and “The Planets”.

For Wade Sisler, executive producer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the challenge paid off.

“It’s a journey I’ve never helped anyone take”Sisler said for AFP.

Like Van Gogh paintings

The seven-part piece begins at the heart of our solar system, the Sun, with footage of its swirling, gurgling surface and ejection of particles towards the planets.

The next two movements focus on NASA’s studies of our planet, from a global perspective, and then through photographs of Earth taken by astronauts.

In addition to photographs and videos, the seven films are interspersed with a “fascinating collection of data visualizations” created by NASA, Sisler explained.

The depictions of ocean currents, for example, “look like Van Gogh paintings when you run them. The colors are beautiful, you see patterns you didn’t notice before,” he points out.

The fourth segment, centered on the Moon, is followed by profiles of each planet, including a focus on images of the surface of Mars taken by NASA’s rovers.

For example, Jupiter, a “royal theme” according to Dehlinger, is represented musically by the ringing and wailing of horns.

The symphony also takes a close look at recent experiments on asteroids before the grand finale of nebulae, black holes and other galactic phenomena.

Along with two performances at locations outside of Washington, NASA posted videos on its YouTube page featuring a synthesized version of Dehlinger’s soundtrack.

a great mystery

To mark the similar importance between music and video, it was decided not to strive for exact timing, but to be more “fluid”, explained director Gajewski.

This approach allows you to “find some moments that are different every time and on every ride.”

“We really wanted people to be able to experience the music, the artists themselves and also the science in a balanced creation”added Sisler.

Knowing that the images and missions were real, Sisler said, elicits a stronger response from audiences in the digital age, when “you can generate anything through AI (artificial intelligence), evoke anything through digital effects.”

“People are interested in real results. Like ‘wow, we really hit that asteroid. Wow, we’re really bringing it back to Earth,’ he said, referring to the daring OSIRIS-REx sample collection space mission.

That factor made paintings perfect companions to orchestral works, Gajewski said.