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Einstein was a violinist all his life. In the motion picture "Einstein’s Light", filmmaker Nickolas Barris and composer Bruce Adolphe set out to communicate Einstein’s dedication to the violin and his particular love for the music of Mozart and Bach.

This collection of music composed for the soundtrack is based on phrases from those two great masters that spin off into physics-inspired dreams and thoughts. It contains a poignant solo violin piece based on music by Bach and four pieces for violin and piano that are based on phrases from Mozart’s music. The composer includes one work in particular, the Mozart Violin Sonata K. 378, notable because the only extant recording of Einstein playing the violin contains the slow movement from this sonata. The soundtrack to “Einstein’s Light” was recorded by Joshua Bell and Marija Stroke on Sony Classical Records. This edition contains bowings and fingerings by Joshua Bell.

Movement Titles: 
1. Einstein's Light: Theme (1:44 )
2. Struggle and Breakthrough (4:34)  
3. Einstein's Sarabande: The Loneliness of Genius (4:03)  
4. Bending of Space-Time (3:03)  
5. Einstein's Harmonic Mind (6:45)

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Composed by Bruce Adolphe 
for the film Einstein’s Light— produced, written, and directed by Nickolas Barris

Recorded for the soundtrack by violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Marija Stroke
Available from Sony Classical

“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.” — Albert Einstein

Einstein was a violinist all his life. In the film Einstein’s Light, Nickolas Barris and I wanted to communicate Einstein’s dedication to the violin and his particular love for the music of Mozart and Bach. To that end, I composed four pieces for violin and piano that were based on phrases from Mozart’s music, and one piece for violin alone, based on music by Bach.

There is only one recording extant of Einstein playing the violin. On this recording, he performs the slow movement (Andantino sostenuto e cantabile) from Mozart’s Violin Sonata No. 34 in B-flat Major, K.378. The pianist is unknown. For the film score, I used music from all three movements of this Mozart sonata.

The movements and their explanations are as follows:

1. Einstein’s Light (Theme): The opening piano solo is from the Rondo of K. 378.  The moment the violin enters, it is fun ride on a light beam. 
2. Struggle and Breakthrough: This movement is based on the movement Einstein recorded, the Andantino sostenuto e cantabile, and also quotes from my own Sarabande: the loneliness of genius, which I composed for this film. 
3. Sarabande: the loneliness of genius: Einstein said, “It is strange to be known so universally and yet be so lonely.” In this meditation on the loneliness of genius, I drew inspiration from Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D Minor.  A few phrases from the Bach appear in an elusive manner, and in the middle of the movement a brief quotation appears as if in a dream. 
4. Bending of Space-time: This piece is based on the first movement of K. 378. Mozart’s music was a solace for Einstein, and he often played Mozart on the violin when he needed a break from thinking about physics. He felt that the music helped his cognitive process. It turns out that current neuroscience research indicates that music does exactly that.  In this piece, I took phrases of the Mozart sonata and put them through physics-inspired permutations —bending, stretching, and otherwise reshaping the ideas. 
5. Einstein’s Harmonic Mind: Based on the slow movement that Einstein recorded from K. 378, this is an extensive exploration of Mozart’s profoundly moving music, where I let my imagination lead the journey. Einstein said, “Logic gets you from A to B. Imagination takes you everywhere.”

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