# Aliens!



## Gentlementalman (Dec 20, 2017)

If you could play one classical recording to greet a newly arrived space alien, what would it be and why?


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Iannis Xenakis - Mycenae Alpha ..... because it sounds alien!


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

the piece from close encounters

and the ligeti piece moon music


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

Bach is _Universal_

And I like this version for them.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Anything by Mozart, and then say 'Go on top that!'


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Mahler Symphony no. 3. If there's any one piece by anyone which covers the whole range of human emotion, that's it. Besides, Karlheinz Stockhausen addressed this exact question in the preface to Henry Louis de la Grange's first volume of the huge Mahler biography. That's what Stockhausen said, and if anyone knew something about alien sounding music, it was Stockhausen!


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

you assume aliens will even hear like we do let alone like classical music

they might arrive and declare rap the pinnacle of human endeavours


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## Gentlementalman (Dec 20, 2017)

Uhhh... aliens would be just like us, but maybe blue or green. I thought this was obvious. They’d also speak English and German.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I'm on record with sending out a fleet of probes in all directions to let the galaxy know we were once here broadcasting forever Beethoven's E-flat Opus 127 string quartet.

Reasoning (aside from the fact it's a terrific piece of music):

-- Four voices is about right, not knowing the listening capabilities of whatever's out there. (A full orrchestra or operatic voices could be really confusing.)

-- Neither do we know "their" emotional makeup, so the pathos of Opp. 131 or 132 might be lost.

-- We assume some sort of pattern recognition abilities, so the various movement demonstrate high level organizing principles (sonata form, variations, scherzo/trio) but with enough creative leaps to show that we didn't just pour notes into stencils.

-- It's assumed that any high enough level being can either "hear" the music or at least "read" it on an oscilloscope equivalent.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

If the alien is newly arrived, I would start with something basic. The alien understands radio waves and vibrations, so the accompaniment to the piece would be based on a single note and its overtones. The alien would not be overly familiar with the capabilities of the human voice, so a single voice or unison voices would be a good and not overwhelming experience. The melody will not be diatonic, pulling the alien from one key center to the next, but will be modal, with a more flowing and natural feel. The focus of the listening experience will be on the human voice, that of this new creature they are encountering and seeking to understand, letting the expressiveness of the human voice reflect the human soul.

So I'm going to go away from the usual suspects and will select Emma Kirkby's marvelous voice singing the chants of Hildegard.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)




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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

I would play excerpts from Telemann's _Tafelmusik_ while eating said alien. That would prevent it from eating me first, always a hazard in such situations.


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## Rambler (Oct 20, 2017)

I think some one from the scientific world said they wouldn't play aliens any Bach because it would seem like showing off! Wish I could remember who said this!


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

If the original version of lumpy gravy does not scare them i would play the cut up final released verve version


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Rambler said:


> I think some one from the scientific world said they wouldn't play aliens any Bach because it would seem like showing off! Wish I could remember who said this!


I have a vague memory that it was Richard Feinman, when asked why more Bach wasn't included on the "golden record" that was sent into interstellar space on the Voyager spacecraft. But both halves of this may be wrong!

Update: Checked, looks like it was Carl Sagan.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Granate said:


> Bach is _Universal_
> 
> And I like this version for them.


Careful, the HIP police are watching you. They have eyes everywhere! :lol:


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

On the other hand we could play them some Bruckner and that would give us time to run and hide:devil:


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

I saw a documentary about aliens recently, I think it was called "Independence Day". The aliens seemed quite unpleasant. So I'd recommend any music that would put them off coming in the first place.

Anything by Benjamin Britten should do the trick.


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## Joe B (Aug 10, 2017)

Gentlementalman said:


> If you could play one classical recording to greet a newly arrived space alien, what would it be and why?


Nimrod Borenstein's "The Big Bang and Creation of the Universe". If that didn't raise an all knowing smile than I'd go for Danny Elfman's theme to "Pee Wee's Big Adventure"!


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

Gentlementalman said:


> If you could play one classical recording to greet a newly arrived space alien, what would it be and why?


Maple Leaf Rag by Joplin a truly great piece of classical music :lol:


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Seeing as they apparently only have time to listen to one piece of music, they're obviously very busy people and we shouldn't delay them. Maybe one of Webern's 6 Pieces for Orchestra, op.6? Not the lengthy fourth movement, obviously.


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2018)

Haydn man said:


> On the other hand we could play them some Bruckner and that would give us time to run and hide:devil:


Or Organ²/ASLSP (As Slow as Possible) by Cage; at the St. Burchardi church in Germany. Then we wouldn't even need to run. Or indeed walk.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

We have to get John Adams and Peter Sellers to write an opera just for them!


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## 13hm13 (Oct 31, 2016)

*Aliens* (1986) by James Horner and The London Symph. Orchestra


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

stockhausen, as he was one of them


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

Haydn man said:


> On the other hand we could play them some Bruckner and that would give us time to run and hide:devil:


Lmcao.

By the way, there is a theory that the reason why we haven't heard from any aliens yet is that there is at least one savage, conquering race out there and everybody else is laying low. If we are ever contacted by aliens, the first message may well be something like, "Will you damn idiots shut the frick up? SSSHHHH!"


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