''Cosmos: A Personal Voyage'' is a thirteen-part, 1980–81 television series written by

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, including e ...

Ann Druyan Ann Druyan ( ; born June 13, 1949) is an American documentary producer and director specializing in the communication of science. She co-wrote the 1980 PBS documentary series ''Cosmos'', hosted by Carl Sagan, whom she married in 1981. She i ...

, and

Steven Soter Steven Soter is an astrophysicist currently holding the positions of scientist-in-residence for New York University's Environmental Studies Program and of Research Associate for the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural Hi ...

, with Sagan as presenter. It was executive-produced by Adrian Malone, produced by David Kennard, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles, and Gregory Andorfer, and directed by the producers, David Oyster, Richard Wells, Tom Weidlinger, and others. It covers a wide range of scientific subjects, including the

origin of life Abiogenesis is the natural process by which life arises from abiotic component, non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to organism, living entities on ...

and a perspective of our place in the universe. Owing to its bestselling companion book and soundtrack album using the title, ''Cosmos'', the series is widely known by this title, with the subtitle omitted from home video packaging. The subtitle began to be used more frequently in the 2010s to differentiate it from the sequel series that followed. The series was first broadcast by the

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the ...

in 1980, and was the most widely watched series in the history of American

public television Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

until '' The Civil War'' (1990). As of 2009, it was still the most widely watched PBS series in the world. It won two

Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

and a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

, and has since been broadcast in more than 60 countries and seen by over 500 million people. A

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

was also published to accompany the series. ''Cosmos: A Personal Voyage'' has been considered highly significant since its broadcast; David Itzkoff of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described it as "a watershed moment for science-themed television programming".

Overview

''Cosmos'' was produced in 1978 and 1979 by Los Angeles

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 ...

member station

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOC ...

on a roughly $6.3 million budget, with over $2 million additionally allocated to promotion. The program's format is similar to earlier BBC documentaries such as

Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director and broadcaster. His expertise covered a wide range of artists and periods, but he is particularly associated with Italian Renaissa ...

's ''

Civilisation A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of the state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond signed or spoken languag ...

'',

Jacob Bronowski Jacob Bronowski (18 January 1908 – 22 August 1974) was a Polish-British mathematician and philosopher. He is best known for developing a humanistic approach to science, and as the presenter and writer of the thirteen-part 1973 BBC television ...

's ''

The Ascent of Man ''The Ascent of Man'' is a 13-part British documentary television series produced by the BBC and Time-Life Films first broadcast in 1973. It was written and presented by Polish-British mathematician and historian of science Jacob Bronowsk ...

'', and

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature d ...

's '' Life on Earth''. However, unlike those series, which were shot entirely on film, ''Cosmos'' used videotape for interior scenes and special effects, with film being used for exteriors and location shooting (this film-video hybrid format was common in British scripted television at the time, but less so in documentary productions). The BBC—a co-producer of ''Cosmos''—later screened the series, but the episodes were cut to fit 50-minute slots. The series is notable for its groundbreaking use of special effects, which allow Sagan to seemingly walk through environments that are actually models rather than full-sized sets. The soundtrack includes pieces of music provided by Greek composer

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

, such as ''Alpha'', ''Pulstar'', and '' Heaven and Hell Part 1'' (the last movement serves as the signature theme music for the show, and is directly referenced by the title of the fourth episode). Throughout the 13 hours of the series, many tracks from several 1970s albums are used, such as '' Albedo 0.39'', ''

Meddle ''Meddle'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released by Harvest Records on 5 November 1971 in the United Kingdom. The album was produced between the band's touring commitments, from January to August 1971 at a se ...

'', ''

Spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

'', ''Ignacio'', ''

Beaubourg The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

'', and ''

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

''. The worldwide success of the documentary series put Vangelis' music in the homes of many, and brought it to the attention of a global audience.

Turner Home Entertainment Turner Entertainment Co. is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner on August 2, 1986. Purchased by Time Warner Entertainment on October 10, 1996, as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was lar ...

purchased ''Cosmos'' from series producer KCET in 1989. In making the move to commercial television, the hour-long episodes were edited to shorter lengths, and Sagan shot new epilogues for several episodes, in which he discussed new discoveries—and alternative viewpoints—that had arisen since the original broadcast. A 14th episode, consisting of an interview between Sagan and

Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...

, was also produced. This new version of the series was eventually released as a VHS box set. This same re-edited version was also released on 12"

LaserDisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

. Two episodes were released per disc, one episode on each side. The LaserDiscs for the various episodes were sold separately, not in a boxed set (as was done for VHS). ''Cosmos'' was unavailable for many years after its initial release because of copyright issues with the soundtrack music, but when it was released in 2000 on worldwide

NTSC NTSC (from National Television System Committee) is the first American standard for analog television, published and adopted in 1941. In 1961, it was assigned the designation System M. It is also known as EIA standard 170. In 1953, a second ...

DVD, subtitles in seven languages and remastered

5.1 5.1 surround sound ("five-point one") is the common name for surround sound audio systems. 5.1 is the most commonly used layout in home theatres. It uses five full-bandwidth channels and one low-frequency effects channel (the "point one"). Dolb ...

sound were included, as well as an alternative music and sound effects track. In 2005,

The Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manuf ...

rebroadcast the series for its 25th anniversary, with updated

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...

and film footage,

digital sound Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, samp ...

, and information about relevant scientific discoveries in the intervening 25 years. Despite being shown again on the Science Channel, the total amount of time for the original 13 episodes (780 minutes) was reduced 25% to 585 minutes (45 minutes per episode) in order to make room for commercials. In a 2009 UK release,

Fremantle Media Fremantle Limited (), formerly FremantleMedia, is a British Multinational corporation, multinational television production company, production and distribution (marketing), distribution company based in London. The company was founded as Pear ...

Enterprises digitally restored and remastered the original series as a five-disc DVD set which included bonus science updates.

Episodes

Ted Turner Interviews Carl Sagan

Some versions of the series, including the first North American home video release (though not the DVD release), included a specially-made fourteenth episode, which consisted of an hour-long interview between Sagan and

, released in 1981 in which the two discussed the series and new discoveries made in the years since its first broadcast.

Special edition

The 1986 special edition of ''Cosmos'' features new computer animated sequences and filmed segments with Sagan, as well as new narration. It includes content from Sagan's book

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

and discussion of his theory of

nuclear winter Nuclear winter is a severe and prolonged anti-greenhouse effect, global climatic cooling effect that is hypothesized to occur after widespread firestorms following a large-scale Nuclear warfare, nuclear war. The hypothesis is based on the fact ...

; this material was not used in subsequent television or home video releases. The special edition premiered as one marathon program on the TBS network, and was later broadcast in Japan, Germany, Australia, Singapore, and Argentina. It is much shorter than the original version, at four and a half hours, divided into six 45-minute episodes: # Other Worlds, Part 1 # Other Worlds, Part 2 # Children of the Stars, Part 1 # Children of the Stars, Part 2 # Message from the Sky, Part 1 # Message from the Sky, Part 2 The 1986 version of ''Cosmos'' contains a mix of music used in the original version, with a unique soundtrack composed by Vangelis specifically for the special edition. The score is often referred to as ''Comet'', as "Comet 16" is used during the opening and closing credits of each episode. Of the 21 cues, "Comet 16" is the only one that has been officially released, although some of the new music appears in the 2000 remastered DVD release.

Music of ''Cosmos''

LP and cassette

In 1981, a soundtrack LP was released by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

shortly after the series' airing, which included the signature theme "Movement 3" (from "Symphony to the Powers B" from the album ''Heaven and Hell'') by Greek synthesist and composer

(catalog No. ABL 1–4003 and TMS-50061; both also released on

cassette tape The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...

). Side A #Space / Time Continuum ##"Movement 3" (from "Symphony to the Powers B" from the album '' Heaven and Hell'') –

##" Symphony No.11 In G Minor ('The Year 1905'), Op.103: The Palace Square (Adagio)" –

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

(Performed by

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

and the

Houston Symphony The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...

) ##"Alpha" (from the album '' Albedo 0.39'')– Vangelis #Life ##"(Depicting) Cranes In Their Nest" – Goro Yamaguchi ##"

Pachelbel's Canon Pachelbel's Canon (also known as Canon in D, P 37) is an canon (music), accompanied canon by the German Baroque music, Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. The canon was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigu ...

" –

Johann Pachelbel Johann Pachelbel (also Bachelbel; baptised – buried 9 March 1706) was a German composer, organist, and teacher who brought the south German organ schools to their peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secularity, secular music, and ...

(Performed by

James Galway Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". After several years working as an orchestral musician, he established an international career as a solo flute pl ...

) ##" The Four Seasons: Spring" –

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

##" The Sea Named 'Solaris' (BWV 788)" – Johann Sebastian Bach (Performed by Isao Tomita) #The Harmony of Nature ##"BWV 1006, Partita For Violin Solo No. 3 In E, BWV 1006" – Johann Sebastian Bach (Performed by Arthur Grumiaux) Side B #

Exploration ##"'Vishnu Symphony No. 19, Op. 217" – Alan Hovhaness ##"Legacy" – Larry Fast ##"Russian Easter Festival Overture" – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Performed by Seattle Symphony) ##"Inside The Heart Of The Universe" – Toru Takemitsu #Cataclism ##"Fly...Night Bird" – Roy Buchanan ##"Beaubourg, Part 2" – Vangelis ##"The Rite of Spring" – Igor Stravinsky (Performed by Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra) #Affirmation ##"Entends-Tu Les Chiens Aboyer?" – Vangelis ##"Izlel ye Delyo Haydutin" – Traditional (Performed by Valya Balkanska) ##"Heaven & Hell, Part I" – Vangelis

CD

In 1994, RCA Records reissued the original soundtrack compilation on compact disc and, in 2002, reissued it on its Collectables label (RCA 07863 54003-2 USA; Collectables COL-CD-6293 USA). In 2002, a special two-disc "collector's edition" of music from the series was released to coincide with the DVD reissue, containing complete versions of many of the songs from the series only available as snippets on previous releases.

Collector's Edition

Disc One #"Heaven & Hell, Part I" –

(4:09) #"Symphony No. 11 (Shostakovich), The Year 1905" –

(Performed by Helsinki Philharmonic) (5:38) #"Alpha" – Vangelis (5:42) #"(Depicting) Cranes In Their Nest" – Goro Yamaguchi (1:00) #"Clarinet Concerto (Mozart), Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622" – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Performed by Mostly Mozart Orchestra) (7:53) #"

" –

(Performed by

) (5:08) #"Metamorphosis" – Jeffrey Boydstun (3:34) #" The Sea Named 'Solaris' (BWV 788)" – Johann Sebastian Bach (Performed by Isao Tomita) (6:04) #"BWV 1006, Partita For Violin Solo No. 3 In E, BWV 1006" – Johann Sebastian Bach (Performed by Arthur Grumiaux) (2:53) #" The Four Seasons: Spring" –

(3:21) #"Sonata C-Dur Für Trompete, Oboe, Und Basso Continuo" – Gottfried Finger (Performed by Leipziger Bach-Collegium) (1:21) #"Mandolin Concerto, RV425, Concerto For Mandolin & Strings In C Major" – Antonio Vivaldi (2:34) #"The Tale of Tsar Saltan (Rimsky-Korsakov), The Tale of Tsar Saltan" – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (6:35) #"Legacy" – Larry Fast (5:47) #"Russian Easter Festival Overture" – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Performed by Seattle Symphony) (7:44) Disc Two #"Pulstar" – Vangelis (5:13) #"'Vishnu Symphony No. 19, Op. 217" – Alan Hovhaness (4:02) #"Melancholy Blues" – Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven, Louis Armstrong And His Hot Seven (2:59) #"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In, Aquarius – Hair (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording) (3:56) #"Beaubourg, Part 2" – Vangelis (3:14) #"The Planets#Structure, The Planets: Mars" – Gustav Holst (Performed by Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra) (7:09) #"Alien Images 1" – Jeff Boydstun (3:24) #"You're Not Alone (Roy Buchanan album), Fly...Night Bird" – Roy Buchanan (7:43) #"Entends-Tu Les Chiens Aboyer?" – Vangelis (2:50) #"The Rite of Spring" – Igor Stravinsky (Performed by Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra) (10:31) #"Prayer of St. Gregory" – Alan Hovhaness (Performed by Seattle Symphony) (4:45) #"Izlel ye Delyo Haydutin" – Traditional (Performed by Valya Balkanska) (5:01) #"Comet 16" – Vangelis (3:48) ''(Only the special edition of Cosmos)''

Singles

The main theme, titled Heaven and Hell, Part 1, but edited from Heaven and Hell Part 1 3rd Movement, was released in the UK as an edited 7" single by BBC Records (Cat No: BBC1). The 7" single did not have the quiet keyboard intro to be found on the full Vangelis LP version originally released in 1975. The B-side of the 7" single was an edited version of Alpha, taken from the Vangelis LP Albedo 0.39. * 1981 Heaven and Hell / Alpha RCA 71 UK * 1981 Heaven and Hell / Alpha BBC 1 * 1981 Theme from the TV-series COSMOS / Alpha PB 5356 Holland * 1981 Titelmelodie aus der TV-Serie "Unser Kosmos" / Alpha PB 5356 West-Germany

Sequel series

On August 5, 2011, plans were announced for a sequel to the series, bringing up-to-date special effects and scientific discoveries to the themes and messages of the original series. The new 13-part series, referred to as ''Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey'', was originally announced to premiere in the 2012–13 United States network television schedule, but a Twitter update from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson in June 2012 indicated an early 2014 release. Episodes began airing March 9, 2014 on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Network and the next day on National Geographic Channel. The new series was hosted by Tyson and produced by the two surviving original creators,

and

, with Seth MacFarlane. Another sequel series from the same team (with Tyson again hosting), ''Cosmos: Possible Worlds'', premiered on March 9, 2020, on National Geographic (American TV channel), National Geographic.

References

External links

The Carl Sagan Portal
*

* [http://cosmic_voyager.tripod.com/cosmosindex.htm A Complete List of the ''Cosmos'' Soundtrack Music, based on the original cue sheets]
''Cosmos'' DVD review on VideoVista
{{Portal bar, Media, Society, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Science 1980 American television series debuts 1980 American television series endings 1980s American documentary television series Astronomy education television series Documentary television series about astronomy Documentary television series about science PBS original programming Peabody Award–winning television programs Television series featuring reenactments Works by Carl Sagan