- Physics world.
Hello and welcome to the Physics World Stories podcast.
I'm Andre Gluster. And this is Enceladus,
the fourth movement from the Moon Symphony from
Amanda Lee Falkenberg.
The Moon Symphony is an orchestral trip through the science
and stories of the moons of our solar system.
Taking listeners on a tour of Io Euro Roper Titan
and Seuss Miranda Gade
before turning to our own moon, where you'll also find
resting on the surface.
The sheet music of this very simple,
it is all the work of Amanda Lee Falkenberg.
- I have been in the musical world since I was two
and a half years old, playing the piano, um, at that age
and pretty much devoted the next two decades
to really trying to perfect the craft, um, learn a lot
of the literature, piano concertos competitions at
Tedford's, uh, performance degree at the Conservatorium
of Music in Adelaide.
Um, and that's really the point at which my curiosity
for composing started to kick in.
And, um, I started composing music for ballet studios
and, um, that I launched a, a three part CD on that.
And I felt that really the visual world was
where I was mostly interested in.
Um, and then I got an appointment, uh, to be the pianist
with Australian Ballet Company.
And we were, uh, it was a very busy full-time job.
Um, we were doing amazing productions like coming to Bana,
and I was obviously at the piano with the, um,
balls on stage, and they were doing these new concepts
and oh, I just honestly wanted nothing more
to be involved in that creative process.
And I thought, there's no way I'm gonna be able to access
that dream if I'm sitting here behind this piano.
So I resigned and it was quite a
big decision, as you can imagine.
Um, there three full-Time Peanut, and I was one of them.
Um, but I really was so curious, Andrew, to see
how far I could take my creativity.
And so for the next two decades, um,
I've really just been writing for films and television
and, um, just doing lots of, of piano concertos
and concert hall music
and just so inspired by visual, the visual landscape.
And, um, yeah, it was through my piano concerto
that I discovered these incredible moons
of our outer solar system.
And oh my goodness,
that was like a lightning bolt moment in
my creative career, .
And I actually had another project I was going
to launch into, but then I found these moons
and I'm like, no, I'm putting that project to the side.
And, um, I think that is the most exciting
and fulfilling, uh, project to date. You
- Discovered them via piano concerto,
- .
I know, I need to give some context there.
Um, I was, um, I was, uh, in between projects
and, um, you know, the, the advice from John Williams is,
you know, when you've got some time on your hand, you know,
and you need to com you wanna compose
something, what do you love?
And that I thought, well, what do I love?
I'm like, I love Full Moon.
So I'm like, I'm just gonna write a piano
concerto about Full Moon.
So I did, it was called Crossing the Crescent Moon,
and it was more of an abstract piece.
Um, living in Dubai,
you're seeing crescent moons everywhere.
And anyway, so it was the last, I had two more minutes
to write at the piano
concerto, and I thought, you know what?
I'm just going to explore, um, some of the sort
of the traditional, um, theories behind, uh, crescent moons
or just explore some of the, the literature out there.
And I was just doing two couple of hours of research on it.
Um, and then all of a sudden I stumbled across this website
that said 10 of the weirdest moons of our solar system.
And I went, hang on a second. What what?
There's like more moons. I mean, house.
I really gotta know that there are all these dynamic worlds
out there when I was buried in music books
and piano, uh, crafting my piano skills.
So, um, anyway, I just went, whoa,
these moons need music.
And then I'm like, hang on, these moons need emotion.
And being a film composer, I'm very aware of the power
of music to help amplify them.
I kind of felt sorry for them, Andrew.
I'm like, here are these amazing worlds
of trapped in a vacuum of space.
Like space I know I could do something for.
I kind of felt sorry for them.
It was really weird experience .
And, um, and that's when I set about the project.
It was literally seven years ago, uh, October, 2017,
and, um, set out to put their world into music,
um, and through the ways I know best.
And so I was really drawing upon the aesthetics
of their world to start with.
But then I started stumbling across all
of this incredible science that they've been, uh, able
to establish from, you know, these incredible missions
of Voyager and Pioneer and et cetera, et cetera.
And I just, I just realized one day I'm like,
there's no way I could ignore this science.
And so I'm like, what if I employed a choir
to sing the science so that
that way it could even give more outreach and relevance
and communicate their incredible worlds
to a larger audience.
Obviously it compounded my, um, my, um, job as, um,
composer here, but I,
there was just no way I couldn't include it into
the, into the project.
- Absolutely. Does the aesthetic translation into music,
can you tell me a bit about that
before we move into the science? Yeah,
- I guess like for me, um, I'm very visual
and I think that's why I started in the ballet studios.
I was looking at how the movement, the porta bra, whatever,
um, the movement of the dancer
and how I felt music could help
them in that exercise, in that training.
Just 'cause I've just been immersed with the world of music
for so many years and I was so curious about
how you could join the forces.
Like, it's just a massive collaborative effort really.
And, and, and I find it fascinating using the texture
of music to try and conjure visuals.
Um, and I, and as,
and especially being a, a composer of the orchestra, I mean,
you've got so much more access to color
and texture, more so than just a piano per se.
And, uh, I felt when, again,
when I was stumbling across the science, and,
and that's a background I didn't never really come from,
and so I'm like, oh my goodness, here's my chance
to really delve into the science a world that
I was never exposed to.
I was so busy with theater
and music, I just didn't have the bandwidth
to put a science topic into my, you know,
bag of study.
And I'm like, oh my goodness, here's my chance.
And it was always quite a, they always sort of seemed
as separate worlds, and I thought, here's my chance
to bridge them together as well.
So yes, in terms of like the aesthetics of, you know, pro,
okay, so the, and a probably a good word to introduce
to you is programmatic.
Uh, it's a word that we use in music
to help convey the music, a musical narrative
or a physical narrative.
And Beethoven was amazing at programmatic
elements in his music.
Um, and so a lot of
the musical elements are driven programmatically
to help convey the scripts of the science.
AMI is a mood of Jupiter.
It's the biggest moon in our solar system,
and there is some phenomenal science
happening at this world.
And, um, I was fortunate enough to, um, consult with, um,
Jean, who is a co-investigator on both the Juice mission
that's heading out there, um, that's essa
and of course, um, rope Clipper Mission.
Um, it's launching in October this year.
So I had some pretty heady conversations with him, um,
about all the science that they're discovering out there.
And I absolutely really wanted to inject
that into this moon, just partly
because they do have access to, to knowing what's going on
as opposed to something like Europa,
they're still trying to figure it out.
Um, I mean,
the Galileo mission certainly revealed enormous amount about
the oceans, and that's a whole other thing
through the magnetometer,
but we're talking about Gamine right now,
so I'll stay on track.
But there's, um, all sorts
of magnetic reconnections going on.
Uh, there's a aurora belts that they've discovered as well
because of the fact that it's,
it's got its own magnetic field.
The charge plasma that's happening at ome,
it's all about magnetic field lines,
and the protons are excited and they, they collide
and they, and they explode.
And in the actual music, ADEs are very fun.
It starts off quite celebratory
and it really wants to convey all this fun sort of
magnetic field line activity.
And so you'll hear like, there's a moment in the base
where I'll do a, what we call a pix carto, um,
which the barock, uh, technique
where you'll pull the string away
and you'll snap back on the p um, on the fingerboard,
and it gives quite a metallic sound.
And of course that's sort of, I'm like, okay, I've gotta put
that in to sort of, you know, emulate that activity.
Also, there's, uh, there's a lot of, um, collision
with these, um, protons that are colliding.
And so there's like this random, um, base note
that comes from the trombone in the middle of a passage
to sort of, yeah, just sort of convey a bit of the chaos.
And, um, so, so there's that kind of thing that I try
to draw upon as much as possible to convey, you know,
the science in, in especially for that particular, um,
narrative for
- That's amazing.
I mean, you've not just gone,
I'm just gonna write some things about the moons.
I'm gonna go and talk to the people
who literally know the most about these things in order
to write about the moons.
- Yeah, and I mean, I'm a teacher at heart.
I have a boutique piano school over here,
and I have always, I mean, I've just, I feel like many
of us are just so curious about life,
and I felt that here was an opportunity to, yeah,
like you said, just not paint a wallpaper
for something that you're interested in.
I'm like, no, here's a chance to really explore.
Like I said, how far can you really take the curious nature
of, of a creative person?
And that's why I started, what actually happened, um,
Andrew is I started researching alone, um,
the initially, and I turned to my husband at some point.
I'm like, hang on a second, like this website saying that,
and this website saying that.
And there was conflict in what I was researching,
and I said to my husband, like, gosh, I need to consult
with a, a, a moons expert.
I mean, I didn't know they were called planetary scientists
back then, but anyway, I'm just like, and moon expert.
And on some of the YouTube channels I was, um, researching,
there was a particular character, I guess you could say.
I didn't know who he was back then,
but he was like dressed up in like Eskimo gear
and talking about this moony roper
that I was about to write for.
And I remember taking a screenshot going, Hmm, I need
to find out where this this person is and write to him
and sort of pick his brain
and see could, if he could, sort of later to rest some
of this conflict that I have about what these numbers are
and et cetera.
So I, um, found out he was from nasa, JPL in California,
and, uh, it was one of these black hole emails, you know,
the ones that you just kind of ,
you write your little message
and you just send it off into the universe
and you're pretty sure you're never
gonna hear back from it .
So, and I, um, anyway, I told him my vision.
At that point, I hadn't even written a note of music,
but I just explained to him the idea
of these moons at a concert that I had in mind
and wanted to just see if he was available
to chat about the characteristics.
And, um, and I just didn't think anything of it.
And seven days later I got a message back from him saying
he'd be happy to talk with me.
My project sounded interesting to him.
And, um, yeah, we've, um,
been in massive contact over the last seven years and,
and he was the one who introduced me
to this whole other swag amazing scientist, lead scientist
of the Cassini mission, like Linda Spilker, um,
and Michelle Doty, uh, the Mag Thomas instrument on, uh, on
that Cassini mission,
who discovered the guys as that in Cellists.
Um, so yeah, so things just sort of snowballed since then.
And, um, I'm so grateful he replied
because, um, I don't think the project would have the
gravitas that it does because of the interactions
and the collaborative, um, efforts
and commitment that I've really wanted to, um, convey,
not just with the music, but when we've done outreach
and we've done, um, public facing events.
Um, it's just so much more impactful having the scientists
and professors share the stage with you to talk the science.
And then I'll come in as the musical communicator of how
that shows up in the music.
It's real, it's quite a fun, um, format. Mm,
- That's great.
But I mean, it seems like, you know, a fair bit about the,
the science these days as well.
Have you found it going in as being part of you now as well
as, you know, part of the music?
- It's, it was quite, um, a Mount Everest climb ,
but I was committed because I felt that, um, you know, like
before I even, I would write for, um, stage plays
or for feature films, Andrew, I would
absolutely invest in the script, the story,
and I would not go anywhere near writing in music
until I felt that I'd penetrated all of the nuances.
And so it was just that same approach.
Um, but instead of a film script,
it was the si it scripted the science that I had
to make friends with and, you know,
and I was very old fashioned, um,
where I would just like two
to three months just saturate myself in everything
that I could get my hands on and write in pencil and paper.
I mean, I've got books like, like, well,
12 books I think in total, um, cover to cover
of just writing everything that I needed to know
or felt would be a nugget that I could include.
I mean, I couldn't include everything obviously,
so I just sort of hand pick.
So, um, it, but it just, it was fun.
Like, it was just really joyful to be exposed to these
incredible minds of these amazing,
brilliant people doing mind blowing missions
to our outer solar smoke.
Why wouldn't I get excited about that?
And so it was just sort of many layers of inspiration,
hugely collaborative,
and I just felt so privileged to be able to have access
to them, and I really wanted to make sure that their time is
so limited, and I wanted to be really respectful about
that. Have
- You got feedback from them?
You know, when they've listened to the music,
what do they say about it?
- Well, oh gosh, that was, yeah, it would,
what would happen is I would penetrate the science
and then just triple check a few things with them.
Like for instance, like moon io I, um, consulted
with Ashley Davies from nasa, JPL,
who's volcanologist expert.
Um, and he's been such a wonderful companion,
um, on this journey as well.
They all have been, um, I mean, he, he would come
to London Imperial College events that I have given and,
and help convey the, the science of, um, moon io.
But what would happen is I'd, you know, again, spend two
to three months researching, then I'd go into the studio.
It would be quite a big deal to then convey
into a musical landscape.
And then after that, actually, Andrew, I would go back into,
uh, once I'd finished the music
and was, it was I felt that it was sounded inevitable.
It felt inevitable, I'd actually then go into the libretto
writing the libretto that would come actually
after I'd composed the music.
And I love that part.
It was like an a, BA science started it, then the music,
then I went back to my science books
and had them all laid out in front of me and would sit
and with my headset and listen to what I'd composed,
and then I'd write the phrases
that would bridge back to the science.
But I had to put a poetic lens on it
because this is, you know, sort of theater after all,
and it can't be too sciencey sy
and I, I love that part as well.
I'm like, I can't really say that word,
but I mean, maybe I could sort of, you know,
and that's why I had to then put on this poetic hat to sort
of soften the science, if you like, um, so
that it's theatrical lens that we're experiencing as opposed
to sitting in a science classroom.
And that was really fun. So
what I would do then is craft my poetry
and actually send that to them first.
And so for the case of Ashley, I mean, I've been
around him at events, at conferences that I've gone
to speak at, and he's been, um, sort of introducing me
to other scientists at those events.
And he'd say, I remember the first time Amanda sent me her
poetry for io, the, my hair stood up on the back of my arm
and, and just got goosebumps all over me.
And I'm like, well, I had hadn't even shared
the music with him at that point.
So, I mean, so that was sort of the, and,
and yes, it was just so joyful involving them and,
and, and interacting at every point, every junction
milestone of the creative process.
So I wanted to really, you know, really get across
that this is collaborative and,
and this is not, I'm just gonna, you know, shut the door
and, you know, never speak to you again.
I wanted to feel invested and a huge, and,
and part of this journey.
Like, it's not just, I mean, I'm just,
I feel like a puppet on a string sometimes.
I'm just sort of like
manipulating this, that, and the other.
But there is this massive spaceship of people like,
uh, that are involved in the nuances of why
and how the symphony is what it is today.
- You said you wanted to bring science
and then the arts together, science and music together.
I can see the excitement with which you talk about the moons
and I, I know from knowing scientists
and how excited they get about music,
that this is just such a great project to do
that mixture of science and the arts.
- Oh, and you know, the timing of this, uh,
question Andrew could not be better
because literally just last week, and,
and I'm pleased that we are scheduled this podcast
because I have to kept mom about it for so long.
But I'm happy to say that this very, uh, uh,
question you, you ask, um, is about to be
realized on stage at one
of the most famous music festivals in the world in Chicago,
Renia, with one of the most, um, prestigious orchestras,
which is Chicago Symphony.
And, um, basically Marin Op,
who also recorded the album in London back in 2022,
she got to experience the scientists
during the recording session, Andrew,
because they, most of them flew over to be part of
that massive milestone.
And it's just like a space launch.
Like I'd go and be part of their space launch.
They came over to the musical launch.
So, I mean, this is just how, you know,
virtuous this circle is of science and music
and commitment we are to, to both worlds.
So they flew over, including my astronaut friend, um,
Nicole Stott, who I consulted with for the seventh movement.
So we, I literally had this, I mean,
I didn't really make a big deal of it at the time,
but little did I realize Marin was quite, quite,
you know, really enjoyed.
Um, she really enjoys projects
that are quite multidimensional like this.
And so as it turns out, just
before we're about to do a take for one of the movements
with the London Symphony Orchestra, she would say, Amanda,
do you wanna get one of the scientists up
to have two minutes to talk about the moon
before they played, to give them some inspiration?
So there they were on the podium, um, standing in front of,
you know, the London Symphony Orchestra to explain some
of the characteristics of the moon they're about to play
and the joy and the, the curiosity.
And, um, we, we've got it all on camera.
Um, and the feedback we also received was, was just
so delightful, um, that they genuinely,
the musicians genuinely were quite awestruck by, you know,
having this knowledgeable scientists there to help anchor
the, the situation from provide context.
So Marin was sort of witness to just sort of like,
I guess you could say, a bit of a test run of how science
and music can interact and, and these worlds can overlap.
And so, you know, two years down the track,
she's got an opportunity
'cause she's chief curator for the r Near Music Festival.
And as part of their breaking barriers, um, theme this year,
the Moon Symphony is going to be centerpiece of that event,
um, played by the Chicago Symphony.
It's going to be a suite of, of the Moon Symphony.
So it won't be with choir, it'll be just, um,
a shortened version, but enough, it's like 22 minutes
of music to, to convey the characteristics of these worlds.
And we are having many auxiliary events where this, I've,
I've got roles, I've got an amazing, um, roster
of scientists, Zippy Turtle, who's lead scientist,
the Dragon find mission back to Titan.
She's gonna be involved Michelle Doty,
who's basically Megaton instrument found the guise is on
and seller, she's flying over from the UK
to be part of the auxiliary event.
Yeah. So we are going to be public facing, um, audiences in,
in Chicago summer this year.
Um, but we've been doing this at Imperial College, um, uh,
uh, for a couple events, um,
and one coming up again actually, um, in June this year.
And so we've, we've seen the impact from the audience
and the students and,
and I think just the, uh, just the nature of, um, music
and science sharing sentence stage like this
and to, you know, as, as it was pointed out to me, um,
CB Turtle, um, you know, she said, Amanda,
this is this outreach that you are doing.
I mean, this is for these outer solar system explorations.
It takes, you know, seven, eight years for these missions
to reach, um, the planetary systems to conduct the science.
She said the age in which that you are presenting, which is,
you know, this kiss age three, um, students, you,
it's the perfect age to get them interested
because then they can start aligning their subjects
that's going to be, you know, conducive
to lending themselves to planetary post-docs, you know,
when they need, uh, students to help them go through the,
you know, the data that this,
these spacecrafts are gonna be sending back to earth.
So she's saying that the time span is actually really good
for outer solar system planetary missions for
what you're trying to inspire in those outreach, um, events.
So yeah,
and so this will be the first time, Andrew,
that we will have a 15,000, um, audience capacity
to, I mean, we've just been doing private events, um,
and we did one of the great Hall
of Imperial College back in December, 2022
to a packed house,
I might say actually tickets sold out in five hours
after they were released to the students.
So there's, there was a quite a, um, an interest in
and, um, in the type of elements that we were going
to showcase and roll out.
And so I think the combination, um, has so far worked.
It'll be interesting to see how it's received in
Chicago. Yeah,
- No, I mean, you've got your music being recorded performed
by the LSO and soon to be Chicago as well.
What, how does that feel to have your music performed
by these, you know, well, world beating orchestras?
- Oh, it is, you know, the power of the vision,
you know, people followed a made up mind.
My mind was always made up that I wanted no one
but Marin op to conduct this symphony,
and I just would never let that not be part
of the vision no matter what, you know, COVID
and sort of other events, like her diary wasn't lining up
with LSO, it was like looking for months for a while
that she was not gonna be conducting.
And so, but, uh, you know, when the, when the email did come
through, it came through Covid because her schedule was
completely wiped out, as you can imagine.
So she came back into the project, we had to set new dates,
she was back on, and, um, I mean, that was just such a
dreamy part of the project to have her, um,
leading our space mission, if you like.
Um, but yes, I mean, I've been living with electronic score
for, at that 0.5 years,
and then to have the life breed from the LSO players, um,
back in May, 2022 was,
and then to have the scientists though, sitting either side
of me, you know, here I was with my, I I wanted them to have
that experience showing in the musical score
Maren right in front of us.
And I would point to where we were at
that moment as it was being recorded.
I mean, I, I knew that they would not know necessarily
what was going on, but you know what, Andrew,
it was almost like a payback time
because they would send their, um, their project, um,
there's their science research page, um, papers,
and I wanted them to, I'm like, send it to me.
And of course I'd read them
and, you know, that was quite heavy.
It was com pretty heavy, the formulas and all the data and,
and, but I would dutifully read them.
And, um, but yeah, my, my eyes would glaze over a fair bit.
And there was this one part of their, the research paper,
which is called Plain English Summary,
that was always my favorite part, ,
because I'm like, okay, I get that
reading further though,
but it was just fun to be around
their minds and not really knowing.
And that's, I guess that's why I wanted
to be seated right in the middle of them, have the score,
because I'm like, this surely must feel like how I've felt
when they, I look at their formulas and I'm like, oh gosh.
But that's where the respect kind of settles in,
and you're just so committed
to each other's worlds from that perspective.
You just wanna try and get as close as you can.
Well, at least that's what I've tried
to do with the symphony.
And so there we were sitting side by side
and then having this, this music brought to life.
Oh, it was, it was just magical.
And yet, you know, that was just a recording, Andrew, I am
yet to experience for the first time a live performance.
So I can't even answer that question right now, um,
if the truth be told, because it, it's going
to be happening on the 26th of July this year.
So, but to to end that first rehearsal, we're going to have,
um, live plasma, um, screens.
They've got plasma screens all over the lawns, um,
and it will be in the pavilion.
Um, and so I'm currently just finessing some, some videos
that will accompany, um, the music, which will be,
so it'll be some very space immersed, uh, experience,
hopefully for the audience.
And then, yeah, to hear the live music performed
by Chicago Symphony Marin conducting.
And we are gonna be given, um, at a 10 minute intro, um,
on stage myself, um, Nicole Scott, the astronaut,
and, um, very lucky NASA scientist as well,
to talk about the mission, um,
to give some context to the audience.
Um, yeah,
and I think just setting the stage of why we've done
what we have, I, and I, I think Marin is very,
is very much on a mission to make sure
that the audience are really clear about just
how much science and investment both the science
and the musical world have come together for
what they're about to experience. Yeah,
- Absolutely.
So Nicole Scott is
of course the first artist in space, right?
- Yeah. She was, did a us a space walk to fix the,
a Canadian robotic arm.
Can you imagine? And obviously, you know, at,
at one point her mother and, um,
and her husband said to her, you know,
when she was tethered,
she was like the furthest human from our planet earth.
I mean, it was just like compelling what she's done.
But you know, these astronauts, you know, the authority
of astronauts, um, their aura like being
around an astronaut, and people are absolutely,
literally awestruck around them
and obvious for obvious reasons.
So to have her, I mean, she's just been a huge supporter
of this creative process,
and so it's gonna be so wonderful to have her.
She's just, yeah, being on this journey with me
through all shades of the rainbow.
And yeah, I mean, I was even writing
to her yesterday saying, oh,
I'm putting the mood board together for, um, earth Moon,
and I can barely hold it together thinking about, you know,
the, the emotional impact that we really want to make for
earth rise and for people to have this emotional reaction
to the music and Nicole's story about the interconnectivity
of seeing our earth from space.
That's the seventh movement's message.
It's the first six moons are basically the scientific data
told from the stories of space probes.
The seventh movement is the emotional data experienced
through the hearts of astronauts.
And so, you know, to have scientists
and an astronaut involved in
this mission is really important.
- You've got these 12 books of notes, right?
What, can you tell me some of the things
that sprung out at you?
- I've got, I've got examples, right? .
So what I'd be sitting, I'd, I'd record my, my Zoom sessions
with like, as I was saying like before, was Jja, um,
and from Michigan University in Ann Arbor.
And, um, I mean, we had like almost an hour solid Skype.
In fact, I think we had two Zoom calls with him,
and I had to record both of them.
And so what I would do, Andrew, right, so I'd, I'd listen,
I'd play back, um, his, his our conversation
and write down everything
that he was telling me about the moon.
And so he was saying things,
he was talking about the alpha wings that the magnetic is,
um, fear of, uh,
GED is very different than other planetary bodies
because it's, um, encased in Jupiter's
enormous magnet sphere.
And so therefore the shape of Ed's, um,
mags sphere is a very different shape than others.
It's, it forms what they call Alvin wings.
And so I'm like, stop, describe what Alpha Wings are.
And of course we had to go into the, the science,
and it was, and anyway, so he talked to me about that and,
and he, he's actually done diagrams.
And so it would be a very literally a hands
on process.
I mean, I'd work with pencils and, and, um, highlighters
and I would just keep writing it out until I understood
to understand it and, um, come at it.
'cause remember I had to sort of then turn it all around
and then come at it through a poetic lens.
So it just felt really important that I, um, just, you know,
just rolled my sleeves up
and just got to used to trying to learn the, the,
the language of this science
and, um, understand, I mean, I didn't even, you know, I had
to learn about magnetic field lines breaking apart.
There's, you know, breaking back together.
And, um, yeah, there, there's also a ro belts at Gmy,
which fascinated me.
So anything that Jji would explain to me, I'll just go,
right, that's gotta go on the symphony.
Okay, let's talk about this. Or, um, also, um,
what else is another or chorus waves.
Yes, chorus Waves at Gmy are a million times
stronger than they are at Jupiter.
Um, and it's just, it's just recent discovery that's come
through and, um, I'm like, oh my goodness, like a word,
like course ways that straddles science
and music, like that was a no brainer that had
to go into the score.
And so, I mean, for that moment, I mean, I,
I give a big Tim solo to sort of, uh,
which is the most powerful instrument of an orchestra
to convey the, the, the drama of this course wave
scientific, um, phenomenon, um,
that they've recently discovered.
So it's just sort of, yeah, it was just completely, yeah,
it was really head, like head and hands on.
Um, and yeah, it was, I loved it.
I abs I mean, every chapter of this process,
learning the learning, the science, the research
has just been so joyful
and, um, such an exhilarating journey.
And, and I, I think that's where I really wanted to hope
that the music would also convey all of those ingredients,
those emotional ingredients of joy, curiosity, respect
and commitment.
And, um, just wanting
to have a good time hanging out
with science and music. Did you
- Write Gunny made first?
Did you write IO first? How did that
- Work?
Oh, that's a really interesting question. Okay.
I actually started writing Europa first
Because that was the science that was coming up the most.
That's the biggest, you know, that is NASA's
multi-billion dollar mission right now.
Um, about to launch in October this year.
So that was obviously coming up more in my investigation.
So I'm like, but I don't even know, at the time,
I'd selected these moons that io
that they were planning this spacecraft launch.
And when I did discover it, I turned to my husband like,
oh my goodness, they're sending in a
spacecraft out to Europa.
I'm like, we need a concert to have
for that moment, .
I mean, I hadn't even written any music at that point,
but I'm like, wow, we need, you know, I mean, I think
that the exciting thing about having a science-based
symphony is that you're reaching a demographic
that perhaps you wouldn't otherwise be at
a target and vice versa.
So anyway, um, so I just started writing for Europa purely
because of, from that perspective.
But, um, and then the, the next sequence was I went
to Incel, then I went to Titan, Miranda, um,
I went to IO then, uh, 'cause I went to nasa, JPO
and presented at the Cassini mission, um,
at the Von Carbon Auditorium.
That was amazing. Had a 20 minute presentation
to all these PI scientists.
It was quite a, quite an experience.
But that was when I was able to have like in situ, um,
conversations with the VUL volcanologist expert
and also Linda SPI Spilker.
I was able to sit down with her
and talk about, um, you, um, how they found the plumes at,
uh, at the geysers at Ence.
And that was absolutely phenomenal to be there in person
and just, oh, yeah, it was pretty exciting.
So then I came back, um, to Dubai
and then started composing for io,
which was quite challenging actually.
Um, , oh my god.
I mean, we are talking about the most explosive,
volcanic powerful moon in our solar system.
Like, oh my God, what am I gonna do?
So, um, I was quite intimidated we could say that.
And then, so I just sort of got down with it
and got on with it and did my research,
and then it was time to go in and do the music.
And, um, after I'd finished composing it,
it was actually my husband who said, Hey,
this sounds like a first movement to me.
It's so explosive.
It, you know,
and I, I said,
do you wanna consider putting this as your first moment night?
Yeah, you know what, I think I'll,
but the other side to this coin is of the decision is that
the cool thing about programming io first is
that it sets the stage for runaway tidal heating,
which is a, a concept about the new Goldilock zone, which is
why they, they scientists believe that they,
they could be find, they could find microbial life in the
ocean of Europa because of the tidal heating at its core,
and their interaction of salt and oshi water.
Um, and the right,
the new Goldilock zone is basically this idea.
So I felt that having io first, not only do we begin
with a blast, we, um, , um,
we also can then convey these really, um,
important concepts moving out in, you know,
as we move out into the other stories of the other moons.
- Brilliant. It's, it is a wonderful, wonderful start.
I just, you know, continues to be brilliant throughout.
Do listeners get in touch with you?
- They do. Um, I, I've got some such incredible, um,
you know, I'm being actually really blown away by how,
uh, yeah, I mean, I think the amount of, okay,
so we've done a lot of outreach events in London, private,
like test beds, just testing audiences out on the concepts.
And this was even before the recording was made,
and the feedback, the reaction that I, that I get,
and often I've shared the stage
with a scientist like I did at an event with Robert Pap, um,
and the audience, I just, you know,
dazzled by having the presence of a scientist that,
you know, potentially could, a mission
that could revolutionize science again in, you know,
by finding microbial life in our solar system.
You know, it's just, and then to have music as a soundtrack
to the science, what I call fact adventures
of our outer solar system.
There's something this is an X factor about,
and I can't, I can't quite put my finger on it,
but, you know, the sort of feedback
that I get from audiences is life changing.
Amanda, oh my, you know, my God, I, I just, you know, it is,
I, the jaws are just, I don't know.
I mean, I'm just, I'm so, you know, you never, you never
exper mean you wanna be happy with your composition,
but you are never sure
how an audience will react or respond.
So I've just been really, um, so grateful
that it's resonated and, you know, and,
and it's not just about,
it's not about the ego of an artist.
We've got a planetary mission here.
Like, we wanna inspire humanity so that, you know,
good things can happen here on planet earth.
And, and, you know, paradigm shifts
and perspective shifts from seeing our planet, the only
planet that supports life in our obvious, there's,
there's just these big overarching themes that just go
beyond the ego of the artist with this.
So I have no problem saying that, you know,
it's been really well received, thank goodness,
thank goodness, you know,
that people then hopefully will be, um, inspired
to do great things themselves.
And yeah, so it's just sort of that sort of virtuous circle
and that we really wanna get across.
And, um, and,
and it's, yeah, it's be, so again, it'll be interesting
to see what the audience reaction in Chicago will be.
- So, I'm sorry I can't be there.
I, what I love about it personally,
because, you know, I've had a love of science
and music for, well, several decades,
and , um, I've experienced quite a few, um,
science music crossovers.
And I think sometimes when the science
of music crossover happens, the science
leaks too much into the composition of the, of the music.
And it becomes a bit, you know,
people lean too much on the electronic.
They go a bit bp Boppy.
It's less about composing something wonderful to listen
to, and it's more about
exploring the composition using the music,
which has its place.
Don't get me wrong, it totally has its place,
but what you have created is something which is beautiful
to listen to and, um, beautiful in its creation,
in liaison with the science, if you see what I
- Mean.
Thank you so much. And I think I, I, again,
leaning on my background as a film composer, I think that is
where, because motion, that's all that you really, you, you,
I think that's the biggest thing you gotta go
after as to recognize where in a story,
you know, the emotional landscape
and the power of music when you team it up with emotion to
draw people like to manipulate emotions, basically.
I mean, as as, as crude as it sounds,
but, you know, if you wanna inspire, you know, positivity
and call to action, that's a great way to do it
through the emotional landscape.
And so I felt I was somewhat in a bit of a, a for
a fortunate position to draw upon my years
as a film composer with my own passions
for these incredible worlds.
And then, you know, long came the scientist element
to it all, which I was absolutely, you know, besotted
with just because it was such a world
that I hadn't been exposed to and I wanted to,
and I knew I, I knew I could, if I had the right team
around me, I knew I could perhaps do something.
And I think the other thing that my husband points out is
that the thing about your symphony, Amanda, he says,
you know, you can just listen to it alone.
You don't have to even think about what the science is,
but if you wanna go under the hood, I mean, that's
what my whole I, I've created a, um,
I'm creating a lunar out, um, outreach program
that's gonna be in con in congen conjunction
with this symphony
and actually Imperial College, um, have, um, uh,
are helping me, um, reach the masses with this lunar,
basically in Ackerman learning under new artistic regimes.
So it's a whole new program of showing
how music can inform the science
and science can inform, you know, so science inform music.
It's just really just a different
paradigm in educational approach.
So this is what we're gonna be sort
of rolling out in Chicago as well.
We're gonna be rolling out in Imperial College.
We have been rolling it out to
and to really great reaction as well.
So as you can imagine, there's a lot of science
embedded in this, which I love, I have to say.
Um, and just so finding all these parallels has been really
a, a great, um, use of, um, my time trying
to make the connection so students can just metabolize
easier by being back to lyrics and music and emotion,
and hopefully it'll penetrate better. Yeah.
- Brilliant, brilliant. There's one other thing I wanted
to ask you about, which is your music being on the moon.
- Oh, . Well, okay,
so it's been a long time coming.
That idea was dreamt up, oh goodness me, maybe about
three or four years ago.
Um, okay, so Nicole Stott, it's a husband, Christo
Lone Star, um, obviously he's just, um,
had a successful launch moon launch
and the payload on that, um, was a,
was was some data that was being offered
to some creative artists.
And he approached me about having the conductor score
of the Moon Symphony on the payload.
Um, so yes, the digital, uh, copy of the Moon Symphony, um,
is sitting on the moon right now, which is kind of fun.
But I think Andrew, again, beyond fun, um, I, I've said
to Nicole, like, when she's talking
to the audience in Chicago, you know,
it might be a really helpful thing
to just state that fact.
Actually the music you're hearing tonight is actually on the
moon right now because the whole concept
of the seventh movement is to
transport humanity onto the surface of our moon
looking down onto our planet.
And it's all about perspective shifts
and the overview effect.
And, and so I just think if they can make that connection
that physically they're experiencing the music,
but hang on, we are getting transported
through the vibrations of music,
but actually the score is up there anyway.
I just, I don't know, I just think it's a really
nice sort of overlap.
It's awesome. And that just happened very recently actually,
but it's been a long time coming 'cause it got delayed.
It was meant to be launched, uh, back in December.
And, you know, um, SpaceX has, you know,
lots of things going on right now.
So, but that was really fun, finally, that happened.
Um, yeah, like I said, it's a long time coming,
but it's, it's a pretty cool idea to know
that it's up on the moon.
I'm putting together the video that's going to accompany
that seventh movement right now.
And, um, there are some stunning, uh,
literally got right in front of me,
Andrew, 'cause I'm working on it.
And I'm not talking to you I'll,
some stunning images that I'm putting from the, uh,
er orbiter.
There's apps. And so the audience will just begin
with the music and just see these glorious, um,
videos coming back from that, which I think people help sort
of set the mood for that for that mood
and set the stage from the science space energy
of the others to, to this more reflective experience.
- Amanda Lee Falkenberg, the Moon's Symphony is recorded
by the London Symphony Orchestra
and is available on Signum records.
I'd like to thank Signum for allowing us to play clips of
that recording on the podcast.
And I'd like to thank Amanda for taking the time out to talk
to me as she prepares for that concert in Chicago.
We'll be back next month
with something else from this wonderful world of physics.
And I'd like to thank you very much for listening.
- Physics - World.