To infinity and beyond: music of the Voyager Golden Record

On September 5, 1977, the space probe Voyager 1 escaped the gravity of Earth and started making its way toward Jupiter and Saturn, bearing all manner of scientific instruments designed to collect information about the immense gas giants and their moons — as well as a golden record inscribed with the title The Sounds of Earth. This priceless time capsule, a message in a bottle sent spiraling into the farthest reaches of our solar system, was engraved with a collection of images and sounds designed to present a portrait of human civilization and culture to any lifeforms that might one day find it. In this playlist, discover some of the works of music that — following nearly a year of deliberations — were selected by NASA to embark on a fantastic interstellar voyage, including:

• J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, C Major Prelude and Fugue from Book 2 of the Well-Tempered Clavier, and Gavotte en rondeau from the Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major
• Mozart: "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" ("Queen of the Night" aria from The Magic Flute)
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor and String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major
• Stravinsky: "Sacrificial Dance" from The Rite of Spring
• Chuck Berry: rock-and-roll classic "Johnny B. Goode"

Now well beyond the orbits of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, the Voyager probes continue traveling hundreds of millions of miles each year, farther and farther into interstellar space, bearing some of humankind's greatest artistic creations to a destination beyond our wildest imagining…