''From Space I Saw Earth'' is a composition for orchestra and three conductors by the

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic composer

Daníel Bjarnason Daníel Bjarnason (born 26 February 1979) is an Icelandic composer and conductor. He has garnered widespread acclaim for his debut album, ''Processions'' (2010), with TimeOut NY writing he "create(s) a sound that comes eerily close to defining ...

. The piece was commissioned by the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

, and was premiered with

Gustavo Dudamel Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor. He is currently the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is scheduled to become the Music and Artistic ...

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...

and

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

to celebrate the orchestra's centennial on October 24, 2019.

Background and composition

The

has performed under its last three principal conductors –

, and

– for nearly three-fifths of its history. For its Centennial Birthday Celebration Concert & Gala, the organization commissioned

to compose a piece in which all three conductors would perform with the orchestra simultaneously. (Mehta claims that a piece for three conductors was his idea.) Daníel said that ''From Space I Saw Earth'' is his third work to be inspired by the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

Moon landing and the

Space Race The Space Race (, ) was a 20th-century competition between the Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between t ...

, and that the title is also in reference to the

overview effect The overview effect is a cognitive shift reported by some astronauts while viewing the Earth from outer space, space. Researchers have characterized the effect as "a state of awe with self-transcendence, self-transcendent qualities, precipitated b ...

. He has described the piece as "one piece of music which is running on parallel timelines that are constantly diverting, coming together and diverting again". The orchestra is divided into three groups, with one conductor leading each. For the most part, each group is intended to work independently; each of the conductors (along with their respective groups) performs at a slightly different

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

, and an element of indeterminacy is built into the piece. However, the conductors do sometimes realign with one another at

fermata A fermata (; "from ''fermare'', to stay, or stop"; also known as a hold, pause, colloquially a birdseye or cyclops eye, or as a grand pause when placed on a note or a rest) is a symbol of musical notation indicating that the note should be ...

s in the music, after which one conductor cues the others to proceed. Because of this, the three groups are positioned in a triangle (two toward the back of the stage, and one at the front), so that the conductors can see one another. For the premiere, Dudamel's group, which was at the front of the stage, consisted of the orchestra's

string section The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

with one percussionist; Mehta and Salonen's groups, at the back of the stage, were each made up of a mix of woodwinds, brass, and percussion. At the end of the piece, musicians walk down the aisles playing

crotales Crotales (, ), sometimes called antique cymbals, are percussion instruments consisting of small, tuned bronze or brass disks. Each is about in diameter with a flat top surface and a nipple on the base. They are commonly played by being struck ...

. At the premiere, this role was given to Youth Orchestra Los Angeles teachers and students.

Performance and recording

''From Space I Saw Earth'' was premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Dudamel, Salonen, and Mehta at their Centennial Concert on October 24, 2019. On May 8, 2020, this concert was broadcast on an episode of

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

' series

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is produced by the PBS member statio ...

. A live recording of the concert was also released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

Note

References

{{reflist, 50em 2019 compositions Contemporary classical compositions Compositions for symphony orchestra Music commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Compositions by Daníel Bjarnason