From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Related e

Wikipedia Wiktionary Shop Featured: Rhombicuboctahedron by Leonardo da Vinci

The Voyager Golden Record is a phonograph record included in the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. It contains sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. It is intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or far future humans, that may find it. The Voyager spacecraft will take about 40,000 years to come near another star, 'near' meaning in this case within around 1.7 light-years' distance; hence, if other beings do not come in the direction of the spacecraft to meet them, it will take at least that long for the Golden Record to be found.

As the probes are extremely small compared to the vastness of interstellar space, it is extraordinarily unlikely that they will ever be intercepted. If they are ever found by an alien species, it will be far in the future, and thus the record is best seen as a symbolic statement rather than a serious attempt to communicate with aliens.

Following the section on the sounds of Earth, there is an eclectic 90-minute selection of music from many cultures, including Eastern and Western classics. The selections include:

Country	Song	Author	Performer(s)	Recorded or collected by	Type of music	Length
Germany	Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F. First Movement	Bach	Munich Bach Orchestra conducted by Karl Richter		Chamber orchestra	4:40
Indonesia	"Puspawarna" ("Kinds of Flowers")		Court gamelan of Pura Paku Alaman directed by K.R.T. Wasitodipuro	Robert E. Brown	Gamelan	4:43
Senegal	Senegalese percussion			Charles Duvelle	Percussion	2:08
Zaire	Pygmy girls' initiation song			Colin Turnbull		0:56
Australia	"Morning Star" and "Devil Bird"			Sandra LeBrun Holmes	Aboriginal songs	1:26
Mexico	"El Cascabel"	Lorenzo Barcelata	Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México			3:14
USA	"Johnny B. Goode"	Chuck Berry	Chuck Berry		Rock and roll	2:03
New Guinea	Men's house song			Robert MacLennan		1:20
Japan	"Tsuru No Sugomori" 《鶴の巣籠り》 ("Crane's Nest")		Goro Yamaguchi		Shakuhachi	4:51
Germany/Belgium	"Gavotte en rondeaux" from the Partita No. 3 in E major for Violin	Bach	Arthur Grumiaux		Violin	2:55
Austria/Germany	Die Zauberflöte, Queen of the Night aria No. 14 Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen	Mozart	Edda Moser (soprano) from the Bavarian State Opera, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch		Opera	2:55
Georgia S.S.R.	"Tchakrulo"			Radio Moscow	Chorus	2:18
Peru				Casa de la Cultura, Lima	Panpipes and drum	0:52
USA	"Melancholy Blues"		Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven		Jazz	3:05
Azerbaijan S.S.R.	"Ugam"			Radio Moscow	Bagpipes	2:30
Russia/France/USA	Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance	Stravinsky	Columbia Symphony Orchestra conducted by Igor Stravinsky			4:35
Germany/Canada	The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Prelude and Fugue in C, No.1	Bach	Glenn Gould		Piano	4:48
Germany/United Kingdom	Fifth Symphony, First Movement	Beethoven	Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Otto Klemperer			7:20
Bulgaria	"Излел е Делю хайдутин" ("Izlel je Delyo Hajdutin")	traditional	Valya Balkanska	Ethel Rain and Martin Koenig		4:59
USA	Night Chant	Navajo Indians		Willard Rhodes		0:57
United Kingdom	"The Fairie Round" from Pavans, Galliards, Almains and Other Short Aeirs	Anthony Holborne	David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London			1:17
Solomon Islands				Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service	Panpipes	1:12
Peru	Wedding song			John Cohen		0:38
China	"Liu Shui" 《流水》 ("Flowing Streams")	Bo Ya	Kuan P'ing-hu		Guqin	7:37
India	"Jaat Kahan Ho"		Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar		Raga Bhairavi	3:30
USA	"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground"	Blind Willie Johnson	Blind Willie Johnson		Blues	3:15
Germany/Hungary	String Quartet No. 13 in B flat, Opus 130	Beethoven	Budapest String Quartet		Cavatina	6:37

• Johann Sebastian Bach is the most represented artist appearing 3 times.