A GIFT TO THE UNIVERSE

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685–1750)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1740) 3D sculpture by Hadi Karimi

Source: hadikarimi.com

Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti, while written over a long period in his Cöthen and Weimar years, were only assembled as a set in 1721 and dedicated to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt. As a set of chamber works, they are highly unusual in that they specify instrumentations that were not used in those combinations before. Some scholars have considered this an attempt by Bach to tickle the patronal ear by experimenting with novel combinations of sound, but in an age where rhetoric and allegory were taken seriously, an examination of numbers and the symbolic associations of the instrumentation yields interesting results.

Six concerti – the number 6 was considered a signum perfectionis, the number of perfection by musical theorists, and triumphal processions in Classical Rome had six tableaux or spectacles (much like the floats in a National Day Parade), thus Bach was honouring the margrave as an ancient hero with a musical triumph, with signs and allusions easily understood by those with an education in classical rhetoric (much more common in those days).

The two Voyager space probes launched by NASA in 1977 each carry a copy of the "Golden Record", two phonograph records containing sounds and images depicting life and culture on Earth. Among the 90 minutes’ worth of music on board is Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 performed by the Munich Bach Orchestra conducted by Karl Richter.

43 years into their mission, the Voyager probes continue their journey, carrying humankind's gift to the universe.

Voyager Golden Record The Sounds of the Earth (1976)