Come Along for the Ride
Astute readers of this blog may recall that I’m married to one of the premier space music composers on the planet. No, really, it’s true. Working under the nom-de-plume Geodesium, Mark C. Petersen (also my business partner at Loch Ness Productions), has been composing planetarium space music for more than 35 years and he’s built up quite a specialized fan base for his music.
Yesterday, 11/11/11 was more than numerological curiosity. It marked the day we released his 11th album of space music, called Arcturian Archives. It’s really an aural journey through a fascinating period in our lives and in planetarium technological history. In 1980s and 1990s, Mark created custom Geodesium music for some special planetarium shows — part system demo and part cosmic journey. The resulting soundtracks influenced his musical stylings in seminal ways, cementing in the minds of many his place as one of the top space music composers for domed theater shows.
This album captures the musical tenor of those times. Beginning in the 1980s, planetarium hardware companies were creating new ways to present content on the dome, and in the keyboard world, new digital synthesizers were coming out that had many musicians (Mark included) panting to get their hands on them. The result of these technological changes shows up in this music.
Many of these tracks have never been heard before, outside of the few planetarium performances for which they were commissioned. And, here are three elaborate renditions of popular orchestral works: Pachelbel’s Kanon in D, Resphigi’s Pines of the Appian Way, and (to my mind) a driven and thrilling version of Holst’s “Mars, the Bringer of War” from The Planets.
Aside from being Mark’s chief critic (and believe me, he returns the favor when I need somebody to give my writing a critical eye), I also wrote up his album liner notes and talked with him at great length in a piece called “Interview with the Artist” that is featured on the album’s Web page. Some of the music accompanied some of the first “outside” planetarium show scripts I wrote for clients such as the St. Louis Science Center (mentioned prominently in Mark’s interview). At the time, I had yet to go back to grad school, and I was working my way from science writing for newspapers to creating touching and engaging shows for the domed theater. And, Mark has always been right there, providing the soundtrack for my—and other people’s—flights of exploration into the cosmos. So, it’s my turn to give him the recognition he deserves for his music and his services to the domed theater community over the years. I look forward to more albums and more great shows!
If you’re interested in buying the album, check out our Website at Loch Ness Productions. It’s also available through the usual places: Amazon.com, iTunes, CDBaby, and other sources. You can preview the music below.