Music & Physics: a spacetime voyage back to our origins, with Yo-Yo Ma and Fabiola Gianotti

Music, a system of farewells, evokes a physics whose point of departure is not atoms but tears.

E.M. Cioran

From creativity to curiosity and the wish to explore the unknown, physics and music are intrinsically linked. For one special evening held at CERN Science Gateway, world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and CERN physicist and Director-General, Fabiola Gianotti, discussed the commonalities and relations between physics and music and the human experiences of both.

The duo musically demonstrated concepts such as the mystery of dark matter, symmetries, complexity built upon simplicity, with Ma on the cello and Gianotti on the piano. Together, they played Franz Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata, while a recording of Debussy’s La Cathédrale Engloutie accompanied striking images of the CERN experiments. To close the evening, Ma played a contemplative performance of Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel.

Music and physics: a space–time voyage back to our origins, with Yo-Yo Ma

World-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma joined CERN Director-General Fabiola Gianotti for a unique evening of music and physics. On Friday, 8 December 2023, Yo-Yo Ma was the exceptional guest of a special evening devoted to music and physics. The event aimed to explored the mysteries, beauty and symmetry of both music and physics.