Sun Rings

  • Terry Riley
Performed by the Kronos Quartet
String theory? The Kronos Quartet perform Sun Rings against a backdrop of images of the Universe. Credit: J. BLAKESBERG/KRONOSARTS

During the First World War, the German physicist Heinrich Barkhausen accidentally made the first recording of strange 'whistling' sounds while tapping British phones. He reported the peculiar tones (Phys. Z. 20, 401; 1919), but could not explain them at the time.

The 'whistler' is just one of many space sounds that form the inspiration for Terry Riley's composition Sun Rings, performed by the Kronos Quartet at the Barbican Centre in London on 22 March 2003, with further performances to follow in seven US cities over the coming months. The work, which was commissioned by NASA's arts programme, is based on the collected space recordings of Don Gurnett, an astrophysicist at Iowa State University, whose plasma-wave receivers have been travelling on various spacecraft for the past 40 years.

Plasma waves are in low radio frequencies. When converted to audible sound waves, patterns emerge — like the 'whistler', a rapidly descending tone caused by lightning discharges. Another is the 'dawn chorus', brief, rising-frequency tones that sound like the chirping of birds and which are produced by electrons trapped in magnetic fields surrounding planets.

For the performance, the theatre is plunged into darkness. The quartet on stage is surrounded by thin silver sticks adorned with dimly glowing, star-like lamps. Behind the musicians, digital images of edited and original NASA footage, arranged by visual designer Willie Williams, are projected onto a giant screen.

The ten 'spacescapes' that make up Sun Rings incorporate the original sounds recorded by the plasma-wave receivers. The string quartet also mimics them. But Riley's interesting and diverse composition is much more than this. He has done what scientists consider unthinkable, explained Gurnett in his pre-performance talk: he has manipulated original data and changed them beyond recognition. Riley's journey is largely about humans as they explore outer space to gain an awareness of their Solar System neighbourhood. The human dimension is emphasized by the addition of a choir in some of the movements.

'One Earth, one people, one love,' a female voice declares. Images about life on Earth are displayed on the huge screen behind the Kronos Quartet. They are part of the message sent on Voyager through space. While bombs are dropping on Iraq, 'one Earth, one people, one love' seems to be further away from humanity than Voyager could ever travel.