Composing the Cosmos – Musical Explorations of Deep Space with Bruce Lazarus

Is there really a music of the spheres? And why is space so inspirational for creativity? To ponder these cosmic questions, Dr. Charles Liu and co-host Allen Liu welcome noted composer and pianist Bruce Lazarus.

As always, though, we start off with the day’s joyfully cool cosmic thing, this time in honor of our guest: the fact that the movie “Oppenheimer” won the Academy Award for Best Original Score. Chuck mentions some other incredible musical scores, especially John William’s soundtrack to “Star Wars.” Bruce points out that Williams also did the theme song and soundtrack to the 1960s TV series, “Lost In Space.” And of course, his soundtracks for “Jurassic Park,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

Bruce has composed many musical pieces inspired by and about the cosmos, including

“Musical Explorations of Messier Star Clusters and Nebulae” and “Starry Messenger.”

He talks about how the early U.S. space program and the Mercury 7, and the U.S. World’s Fair in 1964 inspired him. And while he got away from space-themed music for a while after his time at Juilliard in the 1970s, Bruce estimates that about two thirds of his work over the last 20 years has been astronomy themed. He talks about being inspired by other musical works, from science fiction movie soundtracks like “Arrival” to a few classical pieces like “Colors of the Celestial City” and “Visions from Beyond” by Olivier Messiaen.

For our first student question, Ariella asks, “Is there really a music of the spheres?” To answer, Bruce quotes the 5th Century Roman philosopher Boethius, who wrote about how everything is vibrating, so everything has sound. We then listen to a portion of Bruce Lazarus’s piece, “Boethius Said.” Allen talks about how many aspects of our existence involve vibration and sound while Chuck brings up the Cosmic Microwave Background and Gravitational Wave Background.

Bruce talks about his cycle of 14 pieces for the solo piano inspired by the most commonly referenced Hubble images of the celestial objects found in the Messier Catalog (not to be confused with Messiaen), including Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Ring Nebula (M57), Eagle Nebula (M16), Sombrero Galaxy (M104), and the Pleiades (M45).

Our next student question comes from Gino, who asks, “Did you ever want to be a scientist before you became a composer?” Bruce explains that he’s always liked building things, so he began building music the way he’d built model airplanes, and at 14 years old decided he wanted to be a composer and also focused on the piano, for both composing and making money! The trio ends up discussing the original “Tron” – and believe it or not, it’s Bruce who brings it up, not our Geek-in-Chief Chuck!

Our last student question comes from Wally, who asks, “Why is space the most inspirational thing to you when writing music?” Bruce describes how space has been a large part of his life for as long as he can remember. He talks about the Veil Nebula, and why he didn’t include it in his Messier cycle. He also shares his experience watching the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse, and how the reality of seeing it with his own eyes impacted him unexpectedly.

If you’d like to know more about Bruce, you can visit his website at www.brucelazaruscomposer.com.

We hope you enjoy this episode of The LIUniverse, and, if you do, please support us on Patreon.

Credits for Images Used in this Episode:

– NASA’s first astronauts, the “Mercury 7” – NASA, Public Domain

– Olivier Messiaen – Dutch National Archives, Public Domain

– Andromeda Galaxy (M31) – Kees Scherer, Public Domain

– Ring Nebula (M57) – NASA, ESA, and C. Robert O’Dell, Public Domain

– Eagle Nebula (M16) – NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), Public Domain

– Sombrero Galaxy (M104) – NASA/ESA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), Public Domain

– Pleiades (M45) – NASA, ESA, AURA/Caltech, Palomar Observatory, Public Domain

– Crab Nebula (M1) – NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll, Public Domain

– Veil Nebula – Giuseppe Donatiello

– The April 8 2024 Total Solar Eclipse – NASA Headquarters / NASA/Keegan Barber

Credits for Music Used in this Episode:

– “Boethius Said”; Original Lyrics by Boethius, Music & Lyrics by Bruce Lazarus, performed by Cantabile Chamber Chorale, Directed by Rebecca Scott. Used with permission from Bruce Lazarus.

– “M1 Crab Nebula” from “Musical Explorations of the Messier Catalogue of Star Clusters and Nebulae.” Composed and performed by Bruce Lazarus. Used with permission from Bruce Lazarus.

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