What is the first musical piece on the Voyager Golden Record?

The first musical piece on the Voyager Golden Record is Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, specifically its first movement. The recording opens the record’s musical selections, which follow greetings, spoken messages, and natural sounds from Earth.

The concerto was composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in the early 18th century. The Voyager recording features the Munich Bach Orchestra conducted by Karl Richter, with a performance recorded in Munich in 1967. Its bright trumpet, flute, oboe, and violin lines made it a striking introduction to the musical section.

The Golden Record was assembled in 1977 for Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 under a committee chaired by Carl Sagan. It contains 27 musical selections representing different cultures and historical periods. Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” is included, but it appears later in the sequence; Mozart and Beethoven are also represented by different works.