The songs they sent to space

In 1977 NASA chose music to from across our globe and launched it to infinity. 40 years later, Late Junction wants to know what songs you would send to space today?

Hurtling ever deeper into space are two very special Golden Records, sent to the outer solar system aboard the Voyager probes. As well as 115 images, a variety of natural sounds and greetings in 55 languages, they contained music chosen to best represent our species to any extra-terrestrials that might discover it. Those tracks (listed below) haven’t yet been heard by aliens, but they are journeying further from Earth’s orbit as each day passes.

Voyager Golden Record cover

Late Junction marked the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Golden Records by playing some of the tracks sent into the skies 40 years ago and much more besides. The original playlist was chosen by a committee chaired by Carl Sagan, but Late Junction took a more democratic approach, asking for your ideas of the music you would like to send to another species. Find out what was chosen here.

Music included on the original Golden Records

• Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F. First Movement, Munich Bach Orchestra, Karl Richter, conductor
• Kinds of Flowers, recorded by Robert Brown (Java, court gamelan)
• Percussion, recorded by Charles Duvelle (Senegal)
• Pygmy girls' initiation song, recorded by Colin Turnbull (Zaire)
• Morning Star and Devil Bird, recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes (Australia, Aborigine songs)
• El Cascabel, performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi México (Mexico)
• Johnny B. Goode, written and performed by Chuck Berry
• Men's house song, recorded by Robert MacLennan (New Guinea)
• Tsuru No Sugomori (Crane's Nest), performed by Goro Yamaguchi (Japan, shakuhachi)
• Bach, Gavotte en rondeauxfrom the Partita No. 3 in E major for Violin, performed by Arthur Grumiaux
• Mozart, The Magic Flute, Queen of the Night aria, no. 14. Edda Moser, soprano. Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor
• Tchakrulo, collected by Radio Moscow (Georgian S.S.R., chorus)
• Panpipes and drum, collected by Casa de la Cultura, Lima (Peru)
• Melancholy Blues, performed by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Seven
• Bagpipes, recorded by Radio Moscow (Azerbaijan S.S.R.)
• Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, conductor
• Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 2, Prelude and Fugue in C, No.1. Glenn Gould, piano
• Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor
• Izlel je Delyo Hagdutin, sung by Valya Balkanska (Bulgaria)
• Night Chant, Navajo Indians recorded by Willard Rhodes
• Holborne, Paueans, Galliards, Almains and Other Short Aeirs, The Fairie Round, performed by David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London
• Panpipes, collected by the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service (Solomon Islands)
• Wedding song, recorded by John Cohen (Peru)
• Ch'in (Flowing Stream), performed by Kuan P'ing-hu (China)
• Jaat Kahan Ho, raga sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar (India)
• Dark Was the Night, written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson
• Beethoven, String Quartet No. 13 in B flat, Opus 130, Cavatina, performed by Budapest String Quartet
• Music of the Spheres – Johannes Kepler's Harmonices Mundi realized by Laurie Spiegel (included in the sounds of Earth section)

Nick Luscombe presented the Golden Records-themed edition of Late Junction (with guests Moor Mother and Rahsheedah Phillips aka Black Quantum Futurism) on BBC Radio 3.