Music of the Spheres: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|For untold ages [[The Traveler|the Traveler]] sent signals from deep in the galaxy to our solar system, signals interpreted and identified by the subconscious mind of humanity as music. Music that tells a story about worlds yet to be experienced, places that don't yet exist. The message of the Traveler, along with the inner harmony amongst the seven spheres themselves, has inspired what you are about to hear.|O'Donnell's CD note}}

== Track listing==

[[File:MusicofSpherespostcard.jpg|400px|right|The ''Music of the Spheres'' postcard, with track names, lengths, and art.]]

In late 2010, Bungie management came to composer Martin O'Donnell, asking him to write music for ''Destiny''. He came up with a concept he called a "musical prequel," where the music would be released before ''Destiny'' to introduce people to the musical themes of the franchise.

O'Donnell began work on the album in early 2011, with some elements of the album having been worked on in 2009.<ref name="Kate">[http://www.wshu.org/post/marty-odonnell-origin-story-music-spheres#stream/0 Music Respawn interview with O'Donnell on the origins of Music of the Spheres]</ref> O'Donnell created short drafts for each of the eight movements alone and later recruited his long-time collaborator, Michael Salvatori, to flesh them out. Lev Chapelsky, a manager at a video game talent agency, began speaking with O'Donnell about potential collaborators, and they decided on Paul McCartney. McCartney had previously been at an E3 press conference for ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles%3A_Rock_Band The Beatles: Rock Band]'' and appeared immediately after Bungie's showing of ''[https://www.halopedia.org/Halo_3:_ODST Halo 3: ODST].'' Based on this appearance, Chapelsky believed that McCartney might be interested in gaining a new audience through video games. Chapelsky reached out to McCartney and booked a meeting in Los Angeles between O'Donnell and McCartney. The meeting went well, and McCartney quickly became interested in working on ''Destiny''.<ref>[https://youtu.be/uZ2bQfJAD9w IGN interview with O'Donnell about McCartney's involvement.]</ref>

O'Donnell took inspiration from the ancient concept "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musica_universalis Musica Universalis]"<ref>[https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-04-12-the-day-the-music-died-when-bungie-fired-marty-odonnell O'Donnell's interview with Eurogamer on his firing from Bungie]</ref>, or the idea that the seven celestial spheres moved in relation to music. O'Donnell also used [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomantic_figures nocturnal geomantic figures] as the namesake for the individual tracks.<ref name="Kate">[http://www.wshu.org/post/marty-odonnell-origin-story-music-spheres#stream/0 Music Respawn interview with O'Donnell on the origins of Music of the Spheres]</ref> Each track in ''Music of the Spheres'' is based on a planet as laid out by ancient astrology. O'Donnell used C.S. Lewis' book on the subject, ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Discarded_Image The Discarded Image]'', as a basis and general inspiration for his interpretation of the ideas. O'Donnell also drew inspiration from Holst's ''The Planets'', namely for the track ''The Ecstacy''.<ref name="Kate">[http://www.wshu.org/post/marty-odonnell-origin-story-music-spheres#stream/0 Music Respawn interview with O'Donnell on the origins of Music of the Spheres]</ref> The track order is based on the "classical" order of the planets, as laid out by ancient philosophers. This order of the planets is Earth's Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The eighth track of the album, ''The Hope'', is based on The Traveler and Earth. Earth's Moon and the Sun are considered planets in this model, as the term "planet" meant, at the time, "wandering star."<ref name="Kate">[http://www.wshu.org/post/marty-odonnell-origin-story-music-spheres#stream/0 Music Respawn interview with O'Donnell on the origins of Music of the Spheres]</ref>

''Music of the Spheres'' was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in November 2012, with the final session concluding on November 24, 2012. <ref>[https://twitter.com/MartyTheElder/status/933941224246931456 O'Donnell commemorating the anniversary of ''Music of the Spheres'' being recorded]</ref> ''Music of the Spheres'' featured a large ensemble, with a 106-piece orchestra, choir, and boys choir. Bungie sought out the best talent they could find for the recording, featuring a celebrity conductor and orchestrator.<ref name="Beatle">[https://www.polygon.com/22996738/bungie-destiny-paul-mccartney-marty-odonnell-history Polygon - Bungie and the Beatle]</ref>

''Music of the Spheres'' remained unpublished for several years after, being made available on Bungie's own webstore on June 1, 2018, as part of ''The Music of Destiny, Volume 1'' vinyl soundtrack collection. <ref>[https://twitter.com/BungieStore/status/1005151172469010432 Bungie announcing the first official release of Music of the Spheres]</ref>

As years passed and ''Music of the Spheres'' was seemingly not going to release, Guite considered putting ''Seven Heavens, Seven Hells'' into a number of his books, but an author whom Guite had admired, Michael Ward, said the poems didn't fit thematically into any of the collections he proposed. ''Seven Heavens, Seven Hells'' remained unpublished.

In terms of the layout of the poetry, there are fourteen poems arranged in seven pairs. Each poem draws influences from Ward's book ''[http://www.planetnarnia.com/ Planet Narnia]'', and the poems are arranged in a format called a roundel, where each poem has a main phrase that is repeated throughout (for instance, The Moon's phrase is "The Moon is Full").

*The musical keys of the pieces go in the order of the overtone or Lydian dominant scale (C, D, E, F#, G, A, Bb).<ref name="Kate">[http://www.wshu.org/post/marty-odonnell-origin-story-music-spheres#stream/0 Music Respawn interview with O'Donnell on the origins of Music of the Spheres]</ref> This is used in-game during the Vault of Glass raid: each of the seven Oracles plays one note of the above scale determined by its position.

*In an interview with Music Respawn, O'Donnell stated that an alternate mix of ''Hope for the Future'' by Paul McCartney with a boys choir is part of ''Music of the Spheres''.<ref name="Kate">[http://www.wshu.org/post/marty-odonnell-origin-story-music-spheres#stream/0 Music Respawn interview with O'Donnell on the origins of Music of the Spheres]</ref> Curiously, this is not on the promotional CD or the official vinyl release of the album. However, this additional boys choir did appear in O'Donnell's own YouTube upload of ''Music of the Spheres'', which has since been taken down.  

*The leaked version of ''Music of the Spheres'' included subtitles for each track so that listeners would know which track corresponds with each planet. This release erroneously lists ''The Hope's'' subtitle as "Arrival." ''The Hope'' represents The Traveler on Earth, and the intention of the subtitle "Arrival" is to represent "The Traveler arriving to Earth." "Arrival" is not an official title or subtitle for the track. Additionally, the planetary subtitles present in the leak are not part of the official, intended track titles.  

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Soundtracks]]