released September 21, 2020

The music for Celestial Visions is a cosmological sonic journey through the universe. It is an expression of a sound vision I experienced in the 1970s in which I experienced sounds of such powerful intensity that my total compositional life has been shaped by the search to manifest that experience since that time through the present. During that inner "sound journey," I realized that I had heard, in the most direct way, the sounds of the universe. Thus, I turned to NASA to find a bank of sound files that immediately reflected that sonic vision. This search resulted in the creation of my 1972 work entitled Time Spans which involved space sounds from Venus and Mars probes, satellite transmissions, and moon landing transmissions, plus tweeks, whistlers, and the Aurora Borealis. These materials have become my sound palette and resulted in the composition of many of my larger works including Savitri: Traveller of the Worlds, based on an epic poem of Sri Aurobindo. My current work Celestial Visions evolved from my stay at the home of the late Mrinalini Sarabhai in Ahmedabad, India with whom I had a long-lasting, deeply profound artistic collaboration of over 30 years! While conversing with Mrinalini and her daughter, Mallika, the idea for Celestial Visions was born. The title and music appeared in a poetic and sound vision. Once again, I turned to my cosmological sound palette - this time turning to NASA Voyager IV missions, utilizing sonic emanations from Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, the Van Allen Belt, the Aurora Borealis and sound files from the farthest reaches of our solar system. My work was greatly aided with the brilliant collaboration of musician, engineer and producer, Phil Moffa, without whom this work would not have emerged. Celestial Visions is dedicated to the memory of Mrinalini Sarabhai as well as to the victims of the crew of the Lucky Dragon Five, all the victims of nuclear disaster and war, and the continuing threat of nuclear annihilation in our time. I owe a debt of gratitude as well to the extraordinary activism of the Sarabhai's of India who have fought so courageously for an end to nuclear proliferation and for social justice in this world. Thanks to Dr. Howard Weisberg, Particle Physicist, original introduction to NASA'S Originally tape data files. And finally, thanks to the children of St. Vincent's School in Queens, New York for their beautiful voices of peace. Thank you.

- Joel Thome, composer

Conceived, composed, and conducted by Joel Thome
Produced, recorded, and performed by Phil Moffa