Art on Apollo

Article 19.07.2013 15:54

The Apollo Space Program gives rise to art.

I am currently involved in several musical projects, but one always keeps coming to mind at this time of year. Tomorrow is the 44th anniversary of the first manned landing on the Moon (Apollo 11). Among the Apollo astronauts were poets and artists. One of them, Alan Bean, devoted years to preserving his memories, and the memories of all the Apollo astronauts, in painting. I've taken it upon myself to write some music which would complement those paintings, almost like a modern version of "Pictures at an Exhibition", but with Bean's spacescapes as an inspiration. Two of the pieces are now published. Two of them, EVA and On Endeavor (titles my own), are settings of words by Alfred Worden, who piloted the command module of Apollo 15 in 1971. The other, earlier number, Houston, Challenger, is a setting of my own words, describing one of the last events that occurred on the Moon (when Harrison "Jack" Shmitt discovered oxygenated soil on Apollo 17 in 1972). These pieces are in English, and lend my own perspective on the Apollo program, which I still think of as one of the greatest and most important human endeavors in history. I invite you to check out the Alan Bean galleries - both at his website and in my musical renditions of those pieces published here on MusicaNeo. And enjoy the good music.

Comments

Log in to post a comment