Guide your attention upwards with ABC Classic's Greta Bradman and this special selection of music about the intriguing phenomena that fills the vast expanse of the night sky. From meteors, auroras, satellites, galaxies, moons, planets, stars near and far, the night sky has been a source of inspiration for musicians and composers throughout the centuries.
This playlist features music by Bach, Beethoven, Nardi Simpson, Joseph Tawadros, and much more.
Playlist
Claude Debussy arr. André Caplet: Suite bergamasque, L. 72: III. Clair de lune
Lyon National Opera Orchestra, Jun Märkl (conductor)
Erik Satie: Gymnopédie No. 1
Stephanie McCallum (piano)
Henry Mancini: Breakfast at Tiffany's "Moon River"
Jack Harrison (harmonica), West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Richard Mills (conductor)
Johann Sebastian Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I. Prélude
Yo-Yo Ma (cello)
Jocelyn Pook: The Merchant of Venice "How Sweet the Moonlight"
Andreas Scholl (countertenor), Baroque String Quartet, Elizabeth Kenny (lute), Harvey Brough (psaltery), Siobhan Armstrong (harp)
Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2
Joshua Bell (violin), Peter Dugan (piano)
Catrin Finch, Seckou Keita: Gobaith
Alice Apreda Howell (violin), Annie Pullar (violin), Catrin Finch (harp), Claire Whitson (double bass), Emma Denton (cello), Eoin Schmidt-Martin (viola), Lucy J. Morgan (viola), Matthew Denton (violin), Seckou Keita (kora)
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Well Tempered Clavier: Prelude in C Major BWV 846
Michael Kieran Harvey (piano)
Slava Grigoryan: Winter City Lights
Slava Grigoryan (guitar)
Toumani Diabaté: Moon Kaira
Tounami Diabaté (kora), London Symphony Orchestra
John Carmichael: A Little Night Music: I. Caribbean Moonrise
Mardi McSullea (flute), John Carmichael (piano)
Caerwen Martin: Stars Come Out in a Midnight Sky
ACO Collective, Helena Rathbone (violin and director)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 "Moonlight": I. Adagio sostenuto
Stephen Hough (piano)
Ēriks Ešenvalds: Stars
Adelaide Chamber Singers, Christie Anderson (conductor)
Nardi Simpson: Of Stars and Birds
Ensemble Offspring
Joseph Tawadros: Moon Beam
Joseph Tawadros (oud), James Tawadros (percussion), Leonard Grigoryan (guitar), Slava Grigoryan (guitar)