As humans have grown and expanded to every corner of this planet we call home, it has become increasingly clear that the Earth's limited resources cannot sustain our species' endless appetite for novel experiences and new horizons. Even though our mother Earth is already much older than ourselves, even she has a limited lifetime and our obsession with technology and expansion has now opened the possibility to ensure our species' long-term survival by making our way to other planets, other star systems, maybe one day even other galaxies. The earth has carried and sustained us for so long, yet now we are poised to take the next step into a new home- the Universe itself.
As I put together this mix of soundtracks from sci-fi films which touch on themes of exploration and transcendence, I also noticed a sub-theme of sacrifice and death emerging- from the mind-bending exploration of death, mourning, connection and consciousness in Solaris, to the sacrifice of the crew of the Icarus II in Sunshine, the stunning end scene of The Fountain, the death and rebirth symbolism in Gravity, the music from Zbigniew Preisner's Requiem paradoxically used in the creation scene of The Tree of Life, and of course the overarching themes of sacrifice and new beginnings in Interstellar. Birth and death are really two sides of the same coin- an end of the old way of life, and a beginning of the new.
Note: this mix is mastered quieter than the others to maintain an expressive dynamic range. Please adjust your volume accordingly!
playlist:
Cristian Sandquist feat. Carl Sagan - Wanderers
James Horner - Apollo 13
Alan Silvestri - Awful Waste Of Space [Contact]
Cliff Martinez - We Don't Have to Think Like That Anymore [Solaris]
John Murphy - Adagio in D Minor [Sunshine]
Clint Mansell - Death Is The Road To Awe [The Fountain]
Steven Price - Gravity
Hans Zimmer - No Time For Caution (Randal_Paul's Film Version) [Interstellar]
Hans Zimmer - Where We're Going [Interstellar]
Zbigniew Preisner - Lacrimosa [Tree of Life]
Zbigniew Preisner - Prayer
Hans Zimmer - Detatch [Interstellar]
Gustav Holst - Neptune, The Mystic
The first track is from this incredible CG short film, which was also a huge inspiration for this mix:
Wanderers - a short film by Erik Wernquist from Erik Wernquist on Vimeo.
