Deep Field was inspired by the world’s most famous space observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and its greatest discovery – the iconic Deep Field image. Turning its gaze to a tiny and seemingly dark area of space (around one 24-millionth of the sky) and left for a 10-day long exposure, the Hubble Space Telescope revealed over 3,000 galaxies that had never previously been seen, each one composed of hundreds of billions of stars.

The new film – Deep Field: The Impossible Magnitude of our Universe – illuminates the score by combining Hubble’s stunning imagery, including never-seen-before galaxy fly-bys, with bespoke animations to create an immersive, unforgettable journey from planet Earth to the furthest edges of our universe. The film is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Grammy® award-winning composer & conductor Eric Whitacre, producers Music Productions, scientists and visualizers from the Space Telescope Science Institute and multi-award-winning artists 59 Productions. The film features Virtual Choir 5: more than 8,000 voices, aged 4-87, from 120 countries around the world.

The smartphone App playing the Deep Field electronica should be triggered by audience members from bar 217 to the end of the piece, as cued by the conductor. This should be downloaded in advance of the performance and is available via the App Store and Google Play Store. Search “Deep Field” in the respective store to locate the App and download [it].

The work was co-commissioned by Minnesota Orchestra and BBC Radio 3. It premiered with the Minnesota Orchestra & Minnesota Chorale on 8 May 2015 in Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, conducted by Eric. The second performance & European premiere took place at the BBC Proms on 9 August at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Singers & BBC Chorus, once again conducted by Eric.

ericwhitacre.com/music-catalog/deep-field

Follow the link for not only a full list of the instrumentation, and more links.