The Aggregate of Our Joy and Suffering

On February 14, 1990, Voyager 1 took the first-ever picture of our planetary family. Within this famous portrait, you can see Earth as a tiny, blue pixel, which became known as the “Pale Blue Dot.” Astronomer Carl Sagan reflected on this picture in a 1997 essay:
“From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it’s different. Consider again that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering…”

The music written here is my own personal reflection on these words and the craft carrying evidence of our existence beyond our solar system. On board the Voyager craft is a golden disc that contains pictures, diagrams and music from Earth, including Bach’s Prelude in C major from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book II. Within this piece you’ll find this prelude drifting in and out and finally fading into the nothing.

The Aggregate of Our Joy and Suffering by Daniel Gilliam (with J.S. Bach’s Prelude in C major, BWV 870)
by Daniel Gilliam

Performed by A/tonal:
Amy Ensel, flute
Carrie Ravenscraft, clarinet
Felix Borges, violoncello
Jessica Dorman, piano

Recording engineered by Kojin Tashiro and Ryan Marsh
Produced by Daniel Gilliam, Erich Stem and Kojin Tashiro
Recorded at Louisville Public Media, Louisville, KY
Video produced by Ryan Daly

© 2014 Fictive Music (ASCAP)
danielgilliam.com
fictivemusic.com

Category: Performance