Deutsche Grammophon has announced the 12 June 2020 release of Music of the Spheres, a new album by UK ensemble Aurora Orchestra. The album is based on the ancient Greek concept of celestial harmony – the belief that the movement of the planets follows precise mathematical models that generate “music” inaudible to the human ear.

The album includes a new work by Max Richter – Journey (CP1919) – which is now available to stream.

Journey (CP1919) by Max Richter and Aurora Orchestra is out now to stream

Max Richter – Journey (CP1919)

A cornerstone on the album is a new work by Max Richter – Journey (CP1919) – which was commissioned especially for this project. Inspired by the discovery of the first pulsar star, CP1919, the work uses rhythms governed by the same ratios used by ancient astronomers to describe the orbits of the planets. In live performance the Aurora Orchestra utilise a light installation that combines the curvatures of an orchestra with a 17th-century diagram of Pythagoras’s harmonic order of the cosmos.

Thomas Adès – Concentric Paths

Also included on the album is contemporary British composer Thomas Adès’s Concentric Paths violin concerto with soloist Pekka Kuusisto. Kuusisto says of the work, “In ‘A Brief History of Time’, Stephen Hawking jokes about a poor astronaut getting sucked into a black hole and being stretched as well as torn to bits by gravity. Certain moments in Tom’s ‘Concentric Paths’ concerto sound like what I imagine that astronaut would feel. ‘Concentric Paths’ is an undeniable masterpiece.“

Aurora Play

Aurora Orchestra recently launched Aurora Play, a new digital series showcasing the best of its orchestral adventures online. Broadcast on YouTube each Sunday , the series features highlights from Aurora’s performance archive alongside newly-created interactive content designed to engage audiences with orchestral music in fun and creative ways.

Follow Aurora Orchestra at auroraorchestra.com