Harmonices Mundi

1977/2003

Music/Sound

The Listening Room Female Pioneer

Description

This LP presents Laurie Spiegel’s Harmonices Mundi, a landmark in early computer music that makes Johannes Kepler’s 1619 vision of a “music of the spheres” something you can listen to. Produced at Bell Laboratories using computer-based synthesis, the composition translates planetary motion into a dense, evolving sonic field—part drone, part glissando-driven swell—where tonal clusters rise and fall with an almost gravitational pull. Selected by Carl Sagan for inclusion on the Voyager Golden Record, it became one of the first works of computer-generated music sent into space. This record marks its terrestrial release, foregrounding Spiegel’s distinctive approach: treating the computer not as a purely analytical tool, but as an expressive instrument capable of merging mathematical structure with intuitive, emotive sound.

The Expanding Universe (2018 reissue) by Laurie Spiegel, 2018

The Expanding Universe (2018 reissue) Laurie Spiegel2018 Sound

Donnie And Laurie / Patchwork by Laurie Spiegel, 2018

Donnie And Laurie / Patchwork Laurie Spiegel2018 Sound

Unseen Worlds by Laurie Spiegel, 1990/2019

Unseen Worlds Laurie Spiegel1990/2019 Sound

Language D'un Ordinateur - Hee Saw Dhuh Kaet by Bell Telephone Laboratories (Bell Labs), 1963

Language D'un Ordinateur - Hee Saw Dhuh Kaet Bell Telephone Laboratories (Bell Labs)1963 Sound

Microphone David Tudor1978 Sound

Composition for Three Small Speakers by Tristan Perich, 2023

Composition for Three Small Speakers Tristan Perich2023 Sound

Synthesized Speech by Bell Telephone Laboratories (Bell Labs), 1961

Synthesized Speech Bell Telephone Laboratories (Bell Labs)1961 Sound

Computer Music from the University of Illinois by Lejaren Arthur Hiller Jr, 1967

Computer Music from the University of Illinois Multiple Artists1967 Sound