Earth Harmony Sonata

Harmonies of Music reveal harmonies of Earth. Photography by "stranded" astronauts Suni Williams + Butch Wilmore. Superb Bach Trio Sonata #5 for organ.

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For Earth Day, astronauts of the Association of Space Explorers release a new Earth Music movie, with photography by Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore - just back from Earth orbit. A beautiful flight path. For music: Bach Trio Sonata #5 for organ, played by maestro Brian Hoffman.

Association of Space Explorers (ASE - global professional association of flown astronauts from 38 countries) creates Earth Music movies, using public photos of Earth from ISS and music by world-class musicians. For Earth Day, ASE selected photos by Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, anticipating large scale public interest.

Earth Day (April 22, 2025) gives humanity a moment’s pause to think about our home planet. Astronauts offer a unique perspective, orbiting Earth every 92 minutes. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore took many Earth photos during their extended stay.

Butch is a master of the movie format. We selected his mesmerizing flight path from equatorial Africa, over Sahara and Middle East and on up to Armenia. A view straight down, with stunning 4K details. Sahara is especially colorful.

Suni prefers hand-held photography. She took over 10,000 photographs, with a sensitive and artistic eye. We reviewed them all and selected 60 favorites, covering the world.

Bach’s “Trio Sonata #5”, played by organ maestro Brian Hoffman. He plays with such verve and joy. The movements are i. Allegro / ii. Largo / iii. Allegro, with Butch’s movies in the soaring Allegros, and Suni’s photos in the more thoughtful Largo. Brian plays on a virtual organ system, called Hauptwerk, that can replicate many different organs – here as the Mocnik Organ in Velesovo, Slovenia.

Many thanks NASA, Earth Day, American Guild of Organists, BachArchiv Leipzig, UCTV, TERC, Explorers Club and the global ISS team of astronauts and ground support.