Music of the Spheres

The concept of Music of the Spheres dates back to the ancient Greeks. Through history philosophers, scientists, and mystics have sought to interpret the musica univeralis, or the relationships between the motions of the planets and other celestial bodies. The rhythmic motions of the heavens are thought to have their own musical symmetry.

A number of musicians have taken this concept and incorporated it into their work. Most well known is possibly Mike Oldfield's recent orchestral suite Music of the Spheres. As I was researching music to use for an episode of this theme I made a wonderful musical discovery of the composer Philip Sparke and his Music of the Spheres, which musically describes the big bang and a number of other astronomical phenomena. I have been in communication with Philip and am looking forward to featuring an excelent recording of this piece in an upcoming episode.

Below you will find a good video of a performance of the piece, broken into two parts due to YouTube's 10 minute time constraints.