Bach
I’m listening to Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at the moment, and I’m reminded of a story about the Pioneer 10 spacecraft, which was sent out into the universe with its famous gold plaque and gold record containing samples of the Earth’s sounds and music. The idea was that, should some advanced alien beings come across Pioneer 10 in the distant future and listen to the record, they would think that its makers must have been a bit civilized. There was a good deal of argument about who should get put on the record. The biologist Lewis Thomas commented that, if it were up to him, he’d send just the complete works of J.S. Bach … “but that would be too much like boasting.”
1 Comment