Music of the Spheres: Difference between revisions

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→‎Poetry: Changed placements of sources to be clearer
(Updated the track listing section to use a table, and added additional trivia.)
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| 3 || The Ruin || Venus || E || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori || 5:20
| 3 || The Ruin || Venus || E || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori || 5:20
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| 4 || The Tribulation || Sun || F# || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney || 5:54
| 4 || The Tribulation || Sun || <abbr title="F-sharp">F#</abbr> || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney || 5:54
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| 5 || The Rose || Mars || G || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney || 5:25
| 5 || The Rose || Mars || G || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney || 5:25
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| 6 || The Ecstacy || Jupiter || A || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori || 6:39
| 6 || The Ecstacy || Jupiter || A || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori || 6:39
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| 7 || The Prison || Saturn || Bb || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney || 6:28
| 7 || The Prison || Saturn || <abbr title="B-flat">Bb</abbr> || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney || 6:28
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| 8 || The Hope || Traveler/Earth || C || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney  || 7:47
| 8 || The Hope || Traveler/Earth || C || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney  || 7:47
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McCartney contributed melodies to the game's soundtrack, such as a melody for Horn that appears in the tracks ''The Path,'' ''The Prison,'' and ''The Hope.'' This melody can also be heard in the ''[[Destiny Original Soundtrack]]'' in tracks such as ''Tranquility'' and ''The Fallen'', and at the beginning of the track ''The Traveler.'' McCartney also contributed voice loops to the tracks ''The Path'' and ''The Prison''. McCartney directly worked on five of the tracks from ''Music of the Spheres'' and his work is reused throughout the in-game soundtrack.<ref name="Beatle">[https://www.polygon.com/22996738/bungie-destiny-paul-mccartney-marty-odonnell-history Polygon - Bungie and the Beatle]</ref> McCartney's most well-known contribution is ''[[Hope for the Future]]'', a song that appears at the end of ''Music of the Spheres.'' McCartney released the song as a standalone single, separate from ''Music of the Spheres'', on December 8, 2014. The standalone song received mixed reviews.<ref>[https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/paul-mccartney-hologram-hope-for-the-future-destiny-video-6397780/ Billboard article on the reception of ''Hope for the Future'']</ref>
McCartney contributed melodies to the game's soundtrack, such as a melody for Horn that appears in the tracks ''The Path,'' ''The Prison,'' and ''The Hope.'' This melody can also be heard in the ''[[Destiny Original Soundtrack]]'' in tracks such as ''Tranquility'' and ''The Fallen'', and at the beginning of the track ''The Traveler.'' McCartney also contributed voice loops to the tracks ''The Path'' and ''The Prison''. McCartney directly worked on five of the tracks from ''Music of the Spheres'' and his work is reused throughout the in-game soundtrack.<ref name="Beatle">[https://www.polygon.com/22996738/bungie-destiny-paul-mccartney-marty-odonnell-history Polygon - Bungie and the Beatle]</ref> McCartney's most well-known contribution is ''[[Hope for the Future]]'', a song that appears at the end of ''Music of the Spheres.'' McCartney released the song as a standalone single, separate from ''Music of the Spheres'', on December 8, 2014. The standalone song received mixed reviews.<ref>[https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/paul-mccartney-hologram-hope-for-the-future-destiny-video-6397780/ Billboard article on the reception of ''Hope for the Future'']</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>
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 ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planets 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'' 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>
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==Poetry==
==Poetry==
During a trip to England, O'Donnell met a poet named Malcolm Guite at a festival on the Isle of Wight, where they had their first conversation about pre-Copernican astrophysics and C.S. Lewis. Quickly realizing they shared a passion for these ideas, O'Donnell asked Guite to write a collection of poems for ''Music of the Spheres''. Guite wrote a collection of fourteen poems which he called '''''Seven Heavens, Seven Hells; A Sequence for 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> and gave them to Bungie to read over. O'Donnell loved the poems and Bungie purchased the rights to them. Guite had his name in the first ''Destiny'' game's credits for his poetry.<ref>[https://www.bungie.net/en-US/Destiny/Credits The credits for the first ''Destiny'' game]</ref>
During a trip to England, O'Donnell met a poet named Malcolm Guite at a festival on the Isle of Wight, where they had their first conversation about pre-Copernican astrophysics and C.S. Lewis. Quickly realizing they shared a passion for these ideas, O'Donnell asked Guite to write a collection of poems for ''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> Guite wrote a collection of fourteen poems which he called '''''Seven Heavens, Seven Hells; A Sequence for the Spheres'''''<ref>[https://www.bungie.net/en-US/Destiny/Credits The credits for the first ''Destiny'' game]</ref> and gave them to Bungie to read over. O'Donnell loved the poems and Bungie purchased the rights to them. Guite had his name in the first ''Destiny'' game's credits for his poetry.


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.
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.
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Every two poems are 'opposing pairs'. According to Guite, "Each of the seven spheres has a certain cluster of associations and influences, Venus with love, Mars with war and martial valor, the Sun with gold, but also poetry and inspiration, etc. But equally, it is possible for each of these celestial influences to become corrupted and malign, for, as St. Augustine says, good is primal and evil is always a corruption of some original good. [sic]"<ref name="Malcolm">[https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2019/02/23/the-music-of-the-spheres-a-poetic-adventure-resumes/ Guite's blog post on the release of his poems]</ref> As such, the first poem of the opposing pair is diurnal, or the 'heavenly' sphere, and the second in the pair is the nocturnal, or the 'hellish' sphere.
Every two poems are 'opposing pairs'. According to Guite, "Each of the seven spheres has a certain cluster of associations and influences, Venus with love, Mars with war and martial valor, the Sun with gold, but also poetry and inspiration, etc. But equally, it is possible for each of these celestial influences to become corrupted and malign, for, as St. Augustine says, good is primal and evil is always a corruption of some original good. [sic]"<ref name="Malcolm">[https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2019/02/23/the-music-of-the-spheres-a-poetic-adventure-resumes/ Guite's blog post on the release of his poems]</ref> As such, the first poem of the opposing pair is diurnal, or the 'heavenly' sphere, and the second in the pair is the nocturnal, or the 'hellish' sphere.


[[File:DS66ZTEU0AAGhUe.jpg|200xpx|thumb|right|Poet Malcolm Guite in a Bungie Office]]
[[File:DS66ZTEU0AAGhUe.jpg|200xpx|thumb|Poet Malcolm Guite in a Bungie Office]]


To help Guite better understand the world of Destiny, O'Donnell gave Guite a list of phrases that summarized what ''Destiny'' was about. Guite was inspired by these phrases and wrote a fifteenth poem he called ''Earth's Enigmas''. Guite wrote it without Bungie asking for it, so it was never used in the game. ''Earth's Enigmas'' was released in a video on December 23, 2018. <ref>[https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2018/12/26/earths-enigmas-a-lost-poem/ Guite's blog post about ''Earth's Enigmas'']</ref>
To help Guite better understand the world of Destiny, O'Donnell gave Guite a list of phrases that summarized what ''Destiny'' was about. Guite was inspired by these phrases and wrote a fifteenth poem he called ''Earth's Enigmas''. Guite wrote it without Bungie asking for it, so it was never used in the game. ''Earth's Enigmas'' was released in a video on December 23, 2018. <ref>[https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2018/12/26/earths-enigmas-a-lost-poem/ Guite's blog post about ''Earth's Enigmas'']</ref>
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*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.
*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.  
*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.  
*Track 6, ''The Ecstacy'', has been spelled as both "ecstasy" and "ecstacy" in official releases. In the ''Destiny Original Soundtrack,'' it is spelled as "The Ecstasy," whereas in ''The Music of Destiny, Volume 1'', it appears as "The Ecstacy," using an archaic spelling of the word. In O'Donnell's YouTube upload of ''Music of the Spheres'', one could see that the sheet music for the track also used the archaic spelling.  
*Track 6, ''The Ecstacy'', has been spelled as both "ecstasy" and "ecstacy" in official releases. In the ''Destiny Original Soundtrack,'' it is spelled as "The Ecstasy," whereas in ''The Music of Destiny, Volume 1'', it appears as "The Ecstacy," using an archaic spelling of the word. In O'Donnell's YouTube upload of ''Music of the Spheres'', one could see that the sheet music for the track also used the archaic spelling. The ''Music of the Spheres'' promotional artwork and CD use the modern spelling.  
*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.  
*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.  


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