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United Nations Day Concert Held at United Nations Headquarters

24 October 1970

The 1970 United Nations Day Concert was held in the General Assembly Hall at United Nations Headquarters tonight. Cosmogony, a new composition for soloists, chorus and orchestra by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, which was commissioned by UN Secretary-General, U Thant, to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, was performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Rutgers University Chore and soloists, under the direction of Zubin Mehta.
Cosmogony takes its inspiration from an anthology of thoughts upon the origin of the universe taken from many sources. These include Sophocles, Lucretius, Ovid, Giordano Bruno, Leonardo da Vinci, Nicholas Copernicus, Yuri Gagarin and John Glenn.
Beethoven's Ninth symphony, with its choral setting of Schiller's Ode To Joy was also heard in its entirety.
Secretary-General, U Thant, is seen here delivering his address to the gathering at tonight's concert.

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