Music is a big part of our virtual worlds. In this section we try to highlight some music pieces that have featured in one of the 3DX venues or that have some special significance otherwise. We also try to delve into some of the more obscure corners of musical history for your entertainment. If you have a suggestion for a music topic, please let us know.
In late 1963, a good year before the first Star Trek episode aired, the BBC launched its quirky science fiction show Dr. Who. But what has this to do with music you may ask? The iconic theme of Dr. Who is widely regarded as a significant and innovative piece of electronic music. Arguably it was one...
“An der schönen blauen Donau” is arguably one of the most popular pieces of music in the classical repertoire; a waltz composed in 1866 by the Austrian composer Johan Straus II and first performed in 1867 in Vienna. Curiously, the initial performance was not the overwhelming succes you might have thought it to be. A disappointed...
Today, June 6th, is a day of remembrance. Eighty years ago to the day, the Normandy landings signified the start of the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi occupation. No piece of music is more associated with this day than Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Most people will remember it as the main theme used in the 1962...
“Vieni, vieni, o mio diletto” is an aria from Vivaldi’s opera “Ercole su’l Termodonte”. It was believed that the score of the opera had been lost, but the archives still contained 30 arias and 2 duets, and Alessandro Ciccoloni restored the score from the fragments found. The opera tells about the ninth feat of Hercules, in...
Lakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. The opera includes the popular “Flower Duet” for a soprano and mezzo-soprano, performed in act 1. The Hindus go to perform their rites in a sacred Brahmin temple under the high priest, Nilakantha. Nilakantha’s daughter Lakmé,...
The Pirates of Penzance is a comic operetta in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879. The story concerns Frederick who has joined a bunch of Pirates and can leave when he is...
