I mentioned this elsewhere, but I think given the quality (and obscurity) of these works I thought they deserved their own thread. British composer Mark Slater has made it somewhat of a specialty to score Fulldome Planetarium shows. He has produced quite a number of these scores using full symphony orchestra, and the results are really stunning. I suppose for those, like myself, who enjoy IMAX scores, these fall roughly into the same category.
A few months ago, the composer uploaded the complete scores from three of these films to his Soundcloud. The sound quality is extremely high, much better than what I am used to hearing on Soundcloud. Here is a link:
There are currently three albums here, featuring the scores to
TWO SMALL PIECES OF GLASS: THE AMAZING TELESCOPE (2009), 36 tracks
--performed by the London Symphony Orchestra --If you need to be convinced, just listen to the first track, "Intro & Main Title" --Other favorites of mine, track 18 (Red Shifts), 21 (New Designs), 22 (400 Years of the Telescope)
NATURAL SELECTION (2010), 12 tracks
--Absolutely gorgeous score. The finale is spectacular (track 12, Island Galaxy)
DINOSAURS AT DUSK (2013), 37 tracks
--upbeat, melodic score in the manner of classic '80s children's adventures films --"Jurassic Jeep Ride" (you ABSOLUTELY must hear this), "Soaring Archaeopteryx" and Archaeopteryx Airlines" are highlights
It is a shame that none of these beautiful soundtracks are available on cd, but I am grateful that the composer is sharing them in such high quality
I hosted a documentary crew at Palomar Observatory for the 2009 400 Years of the Telescope documentary (if you don't blink at the wrong time you'll even see me) and later was sent a DVD of the film and a CD of Mr. Slater's wonderful score. On iTunes I've listened to the score nearly 50 times!
I now work at a planetarium and we have the Two Small Pieces of Glass fulldome show (which was also produced for the 400th anniversary of the telescope). It uses much of the same music and I really love it.
I'll have to check out the other music too. Thanks for sharing!
I recently visited the Griffith Observatory and viewed the excellent planetarium show "Centered in the Universe." I was delighted to find that the beautiful score is available to download through the usual online outlets (iTunes, etc.).
Somehow I missed this when it first appeared, but Slater scored another Fulldome film called MARS 1001 that he has just made available on his Bandcamp page.
