In 1974, a coded message was sent to a distant star cluster in the hope it might be picked up and deciphered by intelligent extra-terrestrial life.

The Arecibo message included 1,679 binary digits spelling out the numbers one to 10, details of the structure of DNA, and information indicating the position of Earth within the solar system.

Now, just over four decades since the message was created, it will form the foundations of an exclusive musical performance at the Peninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival, at the University of Plymouth from March 2-4.

Conceived by Dr Alexis Kirke, the piece – also titled Arecibo – uses the marimba as its main instrument and will then incorporate different musical elements to represent the seven sections of the original message.

Dr Kirke’s existing body of experimental work has included transforming the University’s state-of-the-art wave tank into a percussion instrument.

He also collaborated with Heaven 17 and Human League founder Martyn Ware to transform David Bowie’s music and success into new compositions.