What do you hear, inside your head, when you gaze upon a rare and lovely lunar eclipse?
Maybe you experience the inner silence of outer space. Maybe you summon, within your brain, the theme to "Star Trek" or "Star Wars" or one of the hundreds of movies that have used our moon as part of the plotline. Or perhaps you hear some bleeps 'n bloops, as though you were boarding an alien spacecraft.
If you're standing at Griffith Observatory, though, on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 27, staring up into the sky through a powerful telescope at the total lunar supermoon eclipse, you may hear the lilting piano tunes of one Ludwig van Beethoven, seemingly played live before your very ears.
But there's no "seemingly" about it: The LA Phil has teamed up with Steinway & Sons and pianist Ray Ushikubo of the Colburn School to lend some uplifting musical loveliness to the grand lunar event.
And, yep, that's right, this is a total lunar eclipse, and "total" has a knack for amping up any cosmic event that people want to experience (as does "supermoon," too). Pair the totalness of the earth casting its shadow across the moon -- with a little help from the sun, natch -- with the live classical music and you have one very popular event in the works.
As in, the good people of Griffith Observatory are already advising attendees to use public transit. "Don't Get Eclipsed by Traffic!," advises the page, which seems like a solid word of warning ahead of a joyous gathering of the galactic sort.
Did we mention this whole amazing moon-meets-music shebang is free? Oh yeah: You'll be wanting to look up some get-up-the-hill vehicle alternatives right about now.
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We mean, really: Would you fly to the moon without a breathing apparatus and some freeze-dried astronaut food? No. Would you enjoy a live concert of Beethoven sonatas without knowing you'll be deeply moved? No.
Would you go to Griffith Observatory on the evening of a total lunar eclipse, with piano accompaniment, that's free to see, without planning a sensible, low-stress route to the landmark ahead of time? No.
Let's, however, not end this on a "no" when there's so much "yes" here to be had. Yes to free happenings, yes to our Art Deco space museum up on the hill, yes to Beethoven, yes to the moon.
Can't be there from 6:30 to 9:45 in the evening on Sept. 27? The whole lunar lark'll be live on the internet. Yes to that, as well.
