Voyages and Discoveries Companion Playlist
"The real voyage of discovery comes not from seeking new landscapes, but having new eyes" –Marcel Proust
“The underlying idea for this playlist is to present a selection of music that reflects the same themes, motifs and ideas as our exhibition, Voyages and Discoveries. This quote from Marcel Proust is the key to the music and to the exhibition. Many of the pieces are about the idea of water, oceans, ships, boats, and journeys, from many different genres of music. Some are included because they have relevance to the exhibition in other ways, and we have paired them with specific images. We hope that as you walk around the exhibition you will find that the music will make you think differently about the works on display, and inspire you to take a wonderous voyage of your own.”
–Anderson & Low
Amazing Abstraction
James Horner. “A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics.” A Beautiful Mind (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
Steve Reich. “Variations for Winds, Strings, Keyboards.” Performed by the Los Angeles Philharmoic, Stefan Asbury.
“We used nature, mathematics, abstraction, and repeated patterns as inspiration for our Chrysalis series and Echinus (After Frederick Evans). These pieces, with their repetition and experimentation with patterns, are in some way the musical equivalent of the photographs.”
Do you see and hear how the underlying patterns are manipulated and shifting?
Imaginary Portraits
John Williams. “Rey’s Theme. “ Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
Ray Chen. “Waltzing Matilda (arr. Koncz).”
"Violinist Ray Chen taught us to listen to music that we knew well in a different way, with new ears. In Waltzing Matilda, he takes a very famous, yet predictable, song, and creates real magic by reinterpreting it."
Bedřich Smetana. “Ma Vlast: II. Vltava.” Performed by Vltava, from Ma Vlast by Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.
"The second piece was selected by Chen. This work, suggesting a river flowing through the Czech countryside, always makes him think of ships embarking on a voyage."
Real Fictions
Thomas Newman. “The Eternal City.” Spectre (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
Voyages
Maurice Ravel. “Miroirs: III. Une Barque sur L’Ocean.” Performed by Belle Chen.
"The movement of this work is like a voyage on the sea, at times gentle and in others dramatic depending on the waves one encounters."
What type of journey do you think this work depicts? Smooth sailing or turbulent waves?
Toru Takemitsu. “Umi e (Toward the Sea): I – The Night.” Performed by the Toronto New Music Ensemble.
"No other composer has been so obsessed with depicting water in music. This composition evokes the journey of water: an inexorable journey of a stream or river, heading towards the sea. It seems like a slow, unhurried and meditative journey – of the water, of a boat, of a passenger, towards the ocean."
Mychael Danna, Rob Simonsen. “Pi’s Lullaby.” The Life of Pi (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). Performed by Bombay Jayashri, Michael Nowak, and Mychael Danna.
Basil Poledouris. “Hymn to Red October.” The Hunt for Red October (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
"We want you to look at the image and contrast it with the music: Submarines are thought of as threatening, and the music reinforces this. But there is a delicate and magical beauty in the image that is unlike the music.
Does a submarine always have to represent threat?"
James Horner. “The Fog’s Just Lifting.” The Perfect Storm (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
"This beautifully depicts the moment when fog clears at sea, as sunlight pierces through, allowing sailors to see where they are heading." Fog is often a metaphor for a lack of clarity, in this image it affords us the opportunity to let our imaginations run wild.
What do you see through the fog?
Shuhua Lou. “Return of the Fishing Boat.” Performed by the Heart of the Dragon Ensemble.