Bach in Space

It´s still a mystery whether there´s any life beyond the one found on our planet.

No conclusive data has been shown.

But just like the X-Files motto said: we want to believe.

That´s why in 1977, we sent two ships out to space with data showing key images and sounds to present ourselves and show our behavior to any potential alien civilization.

The ships are called Voyager I and Voyager II, and the data is in two identical records called the Voyager Golden Records.

From the musical selection included on the records, Johann Sebastian Bach´s music is what is most represented with a full 3 works out of 27.

Even though humanity wants to present itself in the best way possible to any potential alien roaming through space, I think that´s just showing off ;)

Carl Sagan noted that "The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced space-faring civilizations in interstellar space, but the launching of this `bottle´ into the cosmic `ocean´ says something very hopeful about life on this planet."

Fascinating.

These sorts of things make me think about this: as insignificant as we must be in the vast order of the cosmos, we still want to thrive and establish our importance, even when we´re not really sure if it´d make any difference if we existed or not.

Are we an accident in the lifespan of the universe?

Or is there any purpose to our existence beyond ourselves and our human societies?

I doubt that we´ll ever get to answer that question.

But we´ll always have Bach…

Here´s the link to my album dedicated to Bach´s music. It includes a selection of some of my favorite works by this other-worldly composer. Click here to listen.

Have a great day,

Claudio.