Editing Music of the Spheres

{{Italic title| ''Music of the Spheres''}}
{{Soundtrack infobox
|image=[[File:1 MOTS Cover square.jpg|200px]]
|release=December 25, 2017 (unofficial)<br />June 1, 2018 (vinyl)<br />January 24, 2025 (streaming)
|genre=Classical<br />Orchestra<br />Video game soundtrack
|label=Bungie Music Publishing
|producer=Jonty Barnes<br />Giles Martin
|composer=Martin O'Donnell<br />Michael Salvatori<br />Paul McCartney
|performance=Abbey Road Studios<br />London Symphony Orchestra<br />London Voices<br />Tom Delgado-Little<br />Isaac London<br />Paul McCartney
|length=48:24
}}
{{quote|For untold ages [[The Traveler|the Traveler]] sent signals from deep in the galaxy to our solar system, signals interpreted and identified by the subconscious mind of humanity as music. Music that tells a story about worlds yet to be experienced, places that don't yet exist. The message of the Traveler, along with the inner harmony amongst the seven spheres themselves, has inspired what you are about to hear.|O'Donnell's CD note}}
'''''Music of the Spheres''''' was the musical foundation for ''[[Destiny]]'' written by Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, and Paul McCartney, which started production in 2011 and was sent off to an orchestra in November 2012. O'Donnell compared its purpose to that of the original ''Halo'' theme written in 1999. He explained that while the ''Halo'' theme was only 3 minutes long, its melodies and thematic material provided enough inspiration for O'Donnell and his co-composers to get over 10 years of arrangements and adaptations out of it. O'Donnell wanted to use ''Music of the Spheres'' in a similar way, hoping to use the vast pool of ideas, themes, and melodies in ''Music of the Spheres''  to provide for another 10 years of new music.<ref name="Kate">[https://youtu.be/okL3bcVrwEA Music Respawn - The Origin Story of Music of the Spheres]</ref> Material from ''Music of the Spheres'' was used in this manner throughout the first ''Destiny'' game and its expansions (regardless of O'Donnell's departure from [[Bungie]]), while ''[[Destiny 2]]'' largely went without it, having not used it in any new musical arrangements from ''[[Curse of Osiris]]'' until 2022's [[Spire of the Watcher]] dungeon.<ref>[https://youtu.be/t1HdnQp0HYU?si=ShsQf9DXJUadst2k&t=50 Destiny Music Archive - Spire of the Watcher (Action) - Destiny 2: Season of the Seraph OST]</ref>

The full version of its second movement, titled ''The Union'', was performed live as part of a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Games_Live Video Games Live] concert in 2013<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AXUiCMpRY8 Datto - Destiny Music! Music of the Spheres - 2nd Movement: The Union (Video Games Live)]</ref>, and it was announced that ''Music of the Spheres'' would be released as a standalone work. The music was planned to be released in August 2014<ref>[https://archive.org/download/Martin_ODonell_YouTube/20160104-marty%20nordic.mp4 Martin O'Donnell - Marty Nordic]</ref>, one month before Destiny's final release date, to be kept with the composers' intention of a "musical prequel" to the full franchise. It consisted of eight movements and a total of forty-eight minutes.

== Track listing==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! <abbr title="Number">No.</abbr> !! Title !! Planet !! Key !! Composer(s) !! Length
|-
| 1 || The Path || Moon || C || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney || 6:20
|-
| 2 || The Union || Mercury || D || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori || 4:28
|-
| 3 || The Ruin || Venus || E || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori || 5:20
|-
| 4 || The Tribulation || Sun || <abbr title="F-sharp">F#</abbr> || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney || 5:54
|-
| 5 || The Rose || Mars || G || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney || 5:25
|-
| 6 || The Ecstacy || Jupiter || A || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori || 6:39
|-
| 7 || The Prison || Saturn || <abbr title="B-flat">Bb</abbr> || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney || 6:28
|-
| 8 || The Hope || Traveler/Earth || C || Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Paul McCartney  || 7:47
|}

== Production history ==
[[File:MusicofSpherespostcard.jpg|400px|right|The ''Music of the Spheres'' postcard, with track names, lengths, and art.]]
In late 2010, Bungie management came to composer Martin O'Donnell, asking him to write music for ''Destiny''. He came up with a concept he called a "musical prequel," where the music would be released before ''Destiny'' to introduce people to the musical themes of the franchise.

O'Donnell began work on the album in early 2011, with some elements of the album having been worked on in 2009.<ref name="Kate">[https://youtu.be/okL3bcVrwEA Music Respawn - The Origin Story of Music of the Spheres]</ref> O'Donnell created short drafts for each of the eight movements alone and later recruited his long-time collaborator, Michael Salvatori, to flesh them out. Lev Chapelsky, a manager at a video game talent agency, began speaking with O'Donnell about potential collaborators, and they decided on Paul McCartney. McCartney had previously been at an E3 press conference for ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles%3A_Rock_Band The Beatles: Rock Band]'' and appeared immediately after Bungie's showing of ''[https://www.halopedia.org/Halo_3:_ODST Halo 3: ODST].'' Based on this appearance, Chapelsky believed that McCartney might be interested in gaining a new audience through video games. Chapelsky reached out to McCartney and booked a meeting in Los Angeles between O'Donnell and McCartney. The meeting went well, and McCartney quickly became interested in working on ''Destiny''.<ref>[https://youtu.be/uZ2bQfJAD9w IGN - Hear Paul McCartney's Voicemail to Destiny Composer Marty O'Donnell]</ref>

McCartney contributed melodies to the game's soundtrack, such as a melody for Horn that appears in the tracks ''The Path,'' ''The Prison,'' and ''The Hope.'' This melody can also be heard in the ''[[Destiny Original Soundtrack]]'' in tracks such as ''Tranquility'' and ''The Fallen'', and at the beginning of the track ''The Traveler.'' McCartney also contributed voice loops to the tracks ''The Path'' and ''The Prison''. McCartney directly worked on five of the tracks from ''Music of the Spheres'' and his work is reused throughout the in-game soundtrack.<ref name="Beatle">[https://www.polygon.com/22996738/bungie-destiny-paul-mccartney-marty-odonnell-history Polygon - Bungie and the Beatle]</ref> McCartney's most well-known contribution is ''[[Hope for the Future]]'', a song that appears at the end of ''Music of the Spheres.'' McCartney released the song as a standalone single, separate from ''Music of the Spheres'', on December 8, 2014. The standalone song received mixed reviews.<ref>[https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/paul-mccartney-hologram-hope-for-the-future-destiny-video-6397780/ Billboard - Hologram Paul McCartney Enters Video Game World in Terrible New Video]</ref>

O'Donnell took inspiration from the ancient concept "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musica_universalis Musica Universalis]"<ref>[https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-04-12-the-day-the-music-died-when-bungie-fired-marty-odonnell Eurogamer - The Day The Music Died - When Bungie Fired Marty O'Donnell]</ref>, or the idea that the seven celestial spheres moved in relation to music. O'Donnell also used [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomantic_figures nocturnal geomantic figures] as the namesake for the individual tracks.<ref name="Kate">[https://youtu.be/okL3bcVrwEA Music Respawn - The Origin Story of Music of the Spheres]</ref> Each track in ''Music of the Spheres'' is based on a planet as laid out by ancient astrology. O'Donnell used C.S. Lewis' book on the subject, ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Discarded_Image The Discarded Image]'', as a basis and general inspiration for his interpretation of the ideas. O'Donnell also drew inspiration from Holst's ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planets The Planets]'', namely for the track ''The Ecstacy''.<ref name="Kate">[https://youtu.be/okL3bcVrwEA Music Respawn - The Origin Story of Music of the Spheres]</ref> The track order is based on the "classical" order of the planets, as laid out by ancient philosophers. This order of the planets is Earth's Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The eighth track of the album, ''The Hope'', is based on The Traveler and Earth. Earth's Moon and the Sun are considered planets in this model, as the term "planet" meant, at the time, "wandering star."<ref name="Kate">[https://youtu.be/okL3bcVrwEA Music Respawn - The Origin Story of Music of the Spheres]</ref>

''Music of the Spheres'' was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in November 2012, with the final session concluding on November 24, 2012.<ref>[https://twitter.com/MartyTheElder/status/933941224246931456 @MartyTheElder on Twitter - Five years ago tonight. Finished recording Music of the Spheres at Abbey Road Studios.]</ref> ''Music of the Spheres'' featured a large ensemble, with a 106-piece orchestra, 44-voice choir, and boys choir. Bungie sought out the best talent they could find for the recording, featuring a celebrity conductor and orchestrator.<ref name="Beatle">[https://www.polygon.com/22996738/bungie-destiny-paul-mccartney-marty-odonnell-history Polygon - Bungie and the Beatle]</ref>

''Music of the Spheres'' completed production on December 10, 2012.<ref>[https://twitter.com/MartyTheElder/status/807462515248545792 @MartyTheElder on Twitter - Four years ago today finished the final mix on Music of the Spheres.]</ref> O'Donnell immediately began searching for a means to publish the album, and Bungie produced 100 promotional CDs of ''Music of the Spheres.'' At E3 2013, publisher Activision reworked O'Donnell's audio for a trailer without O'Donnell's permission, replacing his music and hiring a voice actor unrelated to Bungie or ''Destiny''. O'Donnell expressed his frustrations on Twitter, stating the music was not his own.<ref>[https://twitter.com/MartyTheElder/status/344620774235185152 @MartyTheElder on Twitter - To be clear, the "Official Destiny E3 Gameplay Trailer" 2:47 was not made by @Bungie, it was made by the company that brought you CoD.]</ref> This started internal arguments with O'Donnell and Bungie's management. O'Donnell believed that Activison was damaging Bungie's work culture. Bungie believed that O'Donnell was being disruptive and that he was elevating his interest in publishing his music over the best interest of the company.<ref>'''Scribd.com''': ''[https://www.scribd.com/doc/278601628/Marty-O-Donnell-v-Bungie-Harold-Ryan Marty O'Donnell v. Bungie, Harold Ryan]''</ref> O'Donnell was fired from Bungie on April 11, 2014. A legal battle between O'Donnell and Bungie's former CEO Harold Ryan began shortly after, which was resolved on September 4th, 2015 in favor of O'Donnell.<ref>[https://www.engadget.com/2015/09/04/halo-destiny-composer-marty-odonnell-wins-lawsuit-against Engadget -'Halo,' 'Destiny' composer Marty O'Donnell wins lawsuit against Bungie]/</ref>

''Music of the Spheres'' remained unpublished for several years after, being made available on Bungie's own webstore on June 1, 2018, as part of ''The Music of Destiny, Volume 1'' vinyl soundtrack collection.<ref>[https://twitter.com/BungieStore/status/1005151172469010432 @BungieStore on Twitter - Grab yours before June 15! The Music of Destiny, Volume I Collector’s Edition Vinyl Box Set. Includes the Destiny soundtrack and the official release of Music of the Spheres. ]</ref> ''The Music of Destiny, Volume 1'' remained extremely limited in its release, having been available in small quantities for a few weeks, which frustrated many fans on the availability of ''Music of the Spheres'' through legal means.<ref name="Beatle">[https://www.polygon.com/22996738/bungie-destiny-paul-mccartney-marty-odonnell-history Polygon - Bungie and the Beatle]</ref> ''The Music of Destiny, Volume 1'', including ''Music of the Spheres'', was released on all streaming services on January 24, 2025, as well as being made available on digital music retailers such as iTunes and 7Digital, as part of a Sony Classical re-release of all digital ''Destiny'' soundtracks.<ref>[https://old.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/1i9amj8/music_of_the_spheres_is_now_available_on/ u/AtlyxMusic on Reddit - Music of the Spheres is now available on Spotify/Apple/Lossless Purchase after 13 years]</ref>

== Leak ==
When the struggles between O'Donnell and Bungie went public, two ''Destiny'' fans began a project to reconstruct ''Music of the Spheres'' from publicly available material. In March 2017, a 40-minute speculative cut of the album was released, utilizing audio from promotional material and music that appears in the first ''Destiny'' game.<ref>[https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-06-05-the-teen-who-spent-over-a-year-piecing-together-destinys-unreleased-music Eurogamer - The teen who spent over a year piecing together Destiny's unreleased music]</ref> O'Donnell stated that while it was "not quite definitive," it was still close to the real work.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/619zav/music_of_the_spheres_definitive_edition/dfdlnh2/ u/MartyTheElder on Reddit - Hey everyone. This is great to hear given how much detective work went into it. Close, but not exactly "definitive". Someday I hope to be able to share the original.]</ref>

In late 2017, O'Donnell posted to Twitter encouraging anyone with a promotional copy of ''Music of the Spheres'' to share it.<ref>[https://twitter.com/MartyTheElder/status/936349365496459264 @MartyTheElder on Twitter - Years ago, when I was Audio Director at Bungie, I gave away nearly 100 copies of Music of the Spheres. I don't have the authority to give you permission to share MotS. However, no one in the world can prevent me from giving you my blessing.]</ref> On December 25, 2017, ''Music of the Spheres'' was posted online, first appearing on the ''Destiny'' subreddit.<ref>[https://kotaku.com/four-years-later-destinys-music-of-the-spheres-has-lea-1821572335 Kotaku - Four Years Later, Destiny's Music Of The Spheres Has Leaked]</ref> Many fans feared the legal ramifications this would lead to, but for four months, the leak remained online. In April 2018, the leaks began to be taken down, which led to a fan outcry for the music. Bungie's community manager Cozmo23 responded to the backlash on Reddit by stating that Bungie was taking down the leaks in anticipation of an official release of ''Music of the Spheres''.<ref>''[https://www.pcgamer.com/the-unreleased-destiny-album-music-of-the-spheres-has-leaked PC Gamer - Destiny soundtrack Music of the Spheres is finally getting an official release]''/</ref>

==Poetry==
During a trip to England, O'Donnell met a poet named Malcolm Guite at a festival on the Isle of Wight, where they had their first conversation about pre-Copernican astrophysics and C.S. Lewis. Quickly realizing they shared a passion for these ideas, O'Donnell asked Guite to write a collection of poems for ''Music of the Spheres''.<ref name="Kate">[https://youtu.be/okL3bcVrwEA Music Respawn - The Origin Story of Music of the Spheres]</ref> Guite wrote a collection of fourteen poems which he called '''''Seven Heavens, Seven Hells; A Sequence for the Spheres'''''<ref>[https://www.bungie.net/en-US/Destiny/Credits Bungie - ''Destiny'' Credits]</ref> and gave them to Bungie to read over. O'Donnell loved the poems and Bungie purchased the rights to them. Guite had his name in the first ''Destiny'' game's credits for his poetry.

As years passed and ''Music of the Spheres'' was seemingly not going to release, Guite considered putting ''Seven Heavens, Seven Hells'' into a number of his books, but an author whom Guite had admired, Michael Ward, said the poems didn't fit thematically into any of the collections he proposed. ''Seven Heavens, Seven Hells'' remained unpublished.

Shortly after ''Music of the Spheres'' was leaked, Guite decided to start working to release ''Seven Heavens, Seven Hells'' to the public. Guite sent a copy of the poems to two ''Destiny'' fans, who worked with Guite to create a series of videos incorporating the poems with ''Music of the Spheres''. The video series was uploaded on February 22, 2019.<ref name="Malcolm">[https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2019/02/23/the-music-of-the-spheres-a-poetic-adventure-resumes/ Malcolm Guite - The Music of the Spheres: a poetic adventure resumes]</ref> Additionally, ''Seven Heavens, Seven Hells'' was self-published by Guite in his poetry anthology ''After Prayer'' later that year.

In terms of the layout of the poetry, there are fourteen poems arranged in seven pairs. Each poem draws influences from Ward's book ''[http://www.planetnarnia.com/ Planet Narnia]'' (as did ''Music of the Spheres'' itself), and the poems are arranged in a format called a roundel, where each poem has a main phrase that is repeated throughout (for instance, The Moon's phrase is "The Moon is Full").

Every two poems are 'opposing pairs'. According to Guite, "Each of the seven spheres has a certain cluster of associations and influences, Venus with love, Mars with war and martial valor, the Sun with gold, but also poetry and inspiration, etc. But equally, it is possible for each of these celestial influences to become corrupted and malign, for, as St. Augustine says, good is primal and evil is always a corruption of some original good. [sic]"<ref name="Malcolm">[https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2019/02/23/the-music-of-the-spheres-a-poetic-adventure-resumes/ Malcolm Guite - The Music of the Spheres: a poetic adventure resumes]</ref> As such, the first poem of the opposing pair is diurnal, or the 'heavenly' sphere, and the second in the pair is the nocturnal, or the 'hellish' sphere.

[[File:DS66ZTEU0AAGhUe.jpg|200xpx|thumb|Poet Malcolm Guite in a Bungie Office]]

To help Guite better understand the world of Destiny, O'Donnell gave Guite a list of phrases that summarized what ''Destiny'' was about. Guite was inspired by these phrases and wrote a fifteenth poem he called ''Earth's Enigmas''. Guite wrote it without Bungie asking for it, so it was never used in the game. ''Earth's Enigmas'' was released in a video on December 23, 2018.<ref>[https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2018/12/26/earths-enigmas-a-lost-poem/ Malcolm Guite - Earth’s Enigmas: A lost poem]</ref>

==Trivia==
*Contrary to popular speculation, Paul McCartney wrote his soundtrack contributions to ''Destiny'' as well as ''Hope for the Future'' free of charge for Bungie. According to Bungie's (at the time) community manager, Eric Osbourne, "[there] was no check involved, big or otherwise. He’s in it for the creativity. He got a wonderful opportunity to reach an audience that wouldn’t typically be immersed in Paul McCartney. They might hear the name — of course he’s everywhere, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics, obviously he’s touring and recording nonstop — but he sees it as a way to reach a new audience that might not otherwise hear his music."<ref>[https://www.vulture.com/2014/09/how-bungie-got-paul-mccartney-for-destiny.html Vulture - How Bungie Got Paul McCartney for Destiny]</ref>
*The musical keys of the pieces go in the order of the overtone or Lydian dominant scale (C, D, E, F#, G, A, Bb).<ref name="Kate">[https://youtu.be/okL3bcVrwEA Music Respawn - The Origin Story of Music of the Spheres]</ref> This is used in-game during the Vault of Glass raid: each of the seven Oracles plays one note of the above scale determined by its position.
*In an interview with Music Respawn, O'Donnell stated that an alternate mix of ''Hope for the Future'' by Paul McCartney with a boys choir is part of ''Music of the Spheres''.<ref name="Kate">[https://youtu.be/okL3bcVrwEA Music Respawn - The Origin Story of Music of the Spheres]</ref> Curiously, this is not on the promotional CD or the official vinyl release of the album. However, this additional boys choir did appear in O'Donnell's own YouTube upload of ''Music of the Spheres'', which has since been taken down.<ref name="MotS YouTube">[https://archive.org/download/Martin_ODonell_YouTube/20200522-Music%20of%20the%20Spheres.mp4 Martin O'Donnell - Music of the Spheres]</ref>
*Track 6, ''The Ecstacy'', has been spelled as both "ecstasy" and "ecstacy" in official releases. In the ''Destiny Original Soundtrack,'' it is spelled as "The Ecstasy," whereas in ''The Music of Destiny, Volume 1'', it appears as "The Ecstacy," using an archaic spelling of the word. In O'Donnell's YouTube upload of ''Music of the Spheres'', one could see that the sheet music for the track also used the archaic spelling.<ref name="MotS YouTube">[https://archive.org/download/Martin_ODonell_YouTube/20200522-Music%20of%20the%20Spheres.mp4 Martin O'Donnell - Music of the Spheres]</ref> The ''Music of the Spheres'' promotional artwork and CD use the modern spelling.<ref>[https://x.com/MartyTheElder/status/937582950366851072 @MartyTheElder on Twitter - For those who asked about the exact order]</ref>
*The leaked version of ''Music of the Spheres'' included subtitles for each track so that listeners would know which track corresponds with each planet. This release erroneously lists ''The Hope's'' subtitle as "Arrival." ''The Hope'' represents The Traveler on Earth, and the intention of the subtitle "Arrival" is to represent "The Traveler arriving to Earth." "Arrival" is not an official title or subtitle for the track. Additionally, the planetary subtitles present in the leak are not part of the official, intended track titles.

===History of Composing a Suite===
In early 2019, O'Donnell began a YouTube series where he revealed the earliest versions of ''Music of the Spheres''. All of the music he uploaded was created in early 2011 alone in his studio, before Salvatori or McCartney became involved.

*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3YogVGYncwBKDF29-6w1dDIXSCHeIamP O'Donnell's YouTube playlist]
*[https://soundcloud.com/marty-odonnell/sets/making-of-a-suite O'Donnell's audio-only version on SoundCloud]
*[https://www.wshu.org/post/marty-odonnells-earliest-ideas-music-spheres#stream/0 Music Respawn interview with O'Donnell about his videos]

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==References==
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[[Category:Soundtracks]]