The Sounds That the Voyagers Saw (from Organ Symphony No. 18) (2020)

Bernard Heyes (b. 1951) — The Sounds That the Voyagers Saw (from Organ Symphony No. 18) (2020)

The composer has written: “The twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft are exploring where nothing from Earth has flown before. Continuing on their more-than-40-year journey since their 1977 launches, they each are much farther away from Earth and the sun than Pluto. I well remember being amazed when I first saw the Voyager’s photos of the outer planets and their moons in the 1980s. When writing this music I endeavored to create a sonic picture of what it would be like to actually be with one of these Voyager space probes. Using mysterious melodies in three canonic trio sequences each time starting in a different voice. Atmospheric descending chords separate the canons each time concluded by an enigmatic bird call.”

English composer Bernard J. D. Heyes (b. 1951) was born in Kent and began his musical studies at age 21. As a composer, he has focused particularly on music for the organ, most especially his extensive cycle of 20 organ symphonies. Heyes’s musical style draws on a variety of influences and diverse sources of inspiration including the natural world (especially gardens and trees), states of transcendence, ancient Greek philosophy, world cultures and places, life, death, and subatomic physics. The result is music of large scale that connects to the organ’s traditional repertoire while also speaking with a profound and individual voice.

Published by Heyes Music (bernardheyes.org.uk)