Alexei Rybnikov: The Tempest (Гроза)

The Tempest (Russian: Гроза) is the hauntingly beautiful musical theme from Alexei Rybnikov's (Алексея Рыбникова) soundtrack for the 1981 Soviet movie Through Thorns to the Stars (Через тернии к звездам). Rybnikov used The Tempest's melody for the song La vie ensemble in his soundtrack for the movie Just One Life. Through Thorns to the Stars is based on a story by the Soviet Russian science-fiction writer and historian Kir Bulychev (Кир Булычёв; 1934 - 2003), and involves a Russian space mission, a heavily polluted planet, and a female alien.

Alexei Rybnikov (Алексе́й Ры́бников), born in 1945 is a Russian composer. He has composed music for numerous plays and operas, and for over eighty Russian movies. In addition, he has composed symphonies, concertos, and string quartets, as well as the musicals (rock-operas) Star and Death of Joaquin Murrieta (Звезда и смерть Хоакина Мурьеты, 1976) and Juno and Avos (Юнона и Авось, 1981). Among the awards he has received are the Order of Honour (from the Russian Federation), the Order of Friendship (from the Russian Federation), and the Nika Award (from the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science).