Benedict Cumberbatch performs a speech to be read in the event Apollo 11 became stranded on the moon

In 1969, as the world waited anxiously for Apollo 11 to land safely on the surface of the Moon, presidential speechwriter Bill Safire sent the following memo to President Nixon’s office. It contained a speech titled “IN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER,” to be read on TV by Nixon should astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become stranded on the Moon, never to return.
Benedict Cumberbatch read this letter to close our show on 28th October 2022 at the Royal Albert Hall, and was accompanied by the incredible Anna Lapwood, the Royal Albert Hall's organist on the Hall's 200-year-old organ, playing a new arrangemement of Cornfield Chase from Hans Zimmer's score for Interstellar.

[@csmolle]

Thank you so much for including Anna Lapwood's performance on the organ at the end! Absolutely spine tingling! Bravo Benedict and bravo Anna 👏👏👏👏

[@kungfutzu3779]

& bravo to nixon's speechwriters i suppose

[@simoncook2615]

Superb!

[@grantdillon5413]

@@kungfutzu3779 Pat Buchanan & the late William Safire.

[@TheBeardedWit]

I came and found this because one of Anna's reels popped up on my Facebook feed. Absolutely wonderful. Sometimes social media can deliver something really good. 😀

[@briane5706]

Two absolute stellar talents in their respective fields.

[@canitbechristine]

This is such a special moment, both with Benedict's reading of the speech and then Anna's performance on the organ. Chill! I love also the backstory that the organ part was not planned but when Benedict heard Anna practicing and she played something for him, he was so overwhelmed with emotion from the music that he insisted that she play at this event.

[@CalumCarpenter86]

It is difficult to communicate the ways in which this closing performance affected me on the night. The tender power in Cumberbatch’s reading of such sober, profound words already had me deeply moved, but as the first tones of that gargantuan organ sounded out I froze, immediately and utterly overwhelmed. Not just because of my love of the piece being played, but by the momentous, awesome, polyphonic wall of sound that hit every atom in my body. I had tears streaming down my paralysed cheeks. The air in the room changed. At performance end I couldn’t remember how to applaud. I left the Albert Hall in a daze I didn’t shake for hours. I have never been affected by a performance in that way before. Thank you to Anna Lapwood for reaching something in me I didn’t know was there.

[@hazelwhittaker7152]

As someone who was there as well, I totally agree with you Calum. Thank you Anna ❤️

[@Roxanne2i]

I felt the same way you did. This closing performance put me in a mood I can't explain, I even cried the very moment the organ music flooded my body.

[@AnnaLapwoodOrgan]

I cannot tell you how much it means to read this ❤️ it was a magic moment, wasn’t it.

[@rijden-nu]

Paralysed cheeks?

[@redsoxu571]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I too once enjoyed something similar - some years back now, before live performances of entire film scores set to the film visual in the background had become much more common, I attended the first performance of The Fellowship Of The Ring in concert. The entire performance was magnificent, but it reached another level during the climax of the scene in the mines when the heroic group confronts the demonic Balrog. For many minutes, the music builds up with drums and male chorus hooting and humming, building up a tension that crashes to glorious pieces when the group escapes one danger, their full-symphony theme bursting forth. And then, just when it seems all will be won, the villain bursts forth with a literal roar...and the music completely drops, leaving us to take in the showdown on the screen. The music only returns, quietly, as the wizard Gandalf is pulled down into the abyss to certain doom, and then the in-film sounds drop away as the music is given full prominence. As the multiple choirs held their lament, the stepped forth a soloist with a beautiful voice, and the high clear note she rang out just stabbed at the hearts of the audience as the on-screen characters mourned. The power of the juxtaposition of tension, triumph, silence, and finally loss was just off the charts. I think most everyone at least had tears in their eyes, and by my read at least a third of the audience sobbed audibly at that moment. It was spellbinding, in like manner to your own experience, I'd wager. Cheers!

[@AnnaLapwoodOrgan]

😭yep this was pretty incredible.

[@RustyBrakes]

You played wonderfully!

[@kthuesing]

Anna, your recital was my highlight of the evening - no disrespect to the talented people doing the fab readings. All night I'd been staring up at the magnificent instrument thinking how powerful it would be to get a chance to hear it - and then you popped up and blew me away! Wow!! 🤩

[@hazelwhittaker7152]

Anna, it was truly magical. ❣️ I do hope you play it again on the 4th June 2023!!🤞

[@Flutterbyby]

Love how you didn’t stop the video after the letter, thanks for including recording of interstellar being played on the organ afterwards. ❤❤❤

[@lyarnes]

With Artemis successfully off the ground and on its way to the moon, with manned missions soon to follow, this was particularly timely, poignant, and ominous in its warning tone. Anna Lapwood’s magnificent performance just made it all the more wonderful and haunting.

[@jasonpatterson8091]

Deservedly known as the best speech never given. I'm glad that he decided to read it with an American accent. The Zimmer piece on organ afterward was perfect.

[@SturleyArt]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this. My wife and I were in tears at the power of this letter and the organ performance. We're so grateful you've shared it here.

[@dianesternbach1644]

Bravo to William Safire, the writer of one of the most poignant and powerful presidential speeches ever. Cumberbatch was brilliant, as always. The organ -- so moving! I am thankful the speech never had to be delivered.

[@dlanska]

Mr. Cumberbatch is always an excellent orator, giving this the appropriate gravitas. The organist, Ms. Lapwood, was absolutely amazing as Mr. Cumberbatch recognized and appropriately applauded, but really she should have been mentioned in the title of this video. He finished his reading and I thought it was over, but it was not even halfway through this video. You only find out about this if you click show more in the description. That isn't right. Put her in the title along with him.

[@nairocamilo]

Although I don't disagree, I believe that the organ performance is more like a surprise to frequent visitor if this channel, hence the absence of recognition on the title.

[@ShaunUsher]

Anna was a surprise on the night and she's a surprise here, too.

[@dportass]

@@nairocamilo I agree, just like her part in Banobo's performance on their final night, only a handful of people knew she would join in which makes it more impactful. One of her mission statements she said in an interview with GAS is "I want the organ to be something people stumble across in context when they're not expecting it because that is when people have extreme emotional experiences" which fits this perfectly.

[@sophelet]

Brilliant, both artists! If you're not familiar with the extraordinary work of Anna Lapwood, just look her up. She is the Director of Music and Fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge. And she's only 27.

[@derekninabuck5359]

she also has the title of Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall

[@anneinhope]

I wonder if people know that those moving last few lines spoken by Benedict are an adaptation of the opening lines of Rupert Brooke's First World War poem "The Soldier": If I should die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam; A body of England’s, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

[@clarenewman2713]

As a live experience this was something otherworldly and truly humbling, it is GREAT to be able to revisit that moment. Thank you to Anna for making me cry haha!

[@jasonpatterson8091]

I teach high school astronomy and typically lead my discussion of lunar exploration with Safire's speech for Nixon. I may have just lost that job...

[@carolch6480]

We saw this and Anna Lapwood's performance at the end was spine-tingling. A fabulous event - when is the next one !

[@veramae4098]

When the Eagle landed, there was 47 seconds of fuel left. The original site, chosen by telescope, turned out to be filled with boulders. Armstrong and Aldrin had to eyeball the area on the way down and make a choice. I've read afterwards that NASA had chosen the right man; Neil Armstrong was arguably the best pilot alive. Maybe "ever", but Chuck Yeager would've made it a hard decision.

[@kungfutzu3779]

good thing that 47 seconds of fuel was enough to get them back up again

[@martinahaary6676]

@@kungfutzu3779 The part of the lunar lander that returned to the command module had separate fuel tanks.

[@kungfutzu3779]

@@martinahaary6676 i see

[@linengray]

Nixon's speech writer William Safire wrote this speech. Just to note a mission critical circuit breaker in the lunar module had broken. If Buzz Aldrin had not jerry-rigged the breaker by pushing the button with a pen the lunar module would not have been able to lift off to return home.

[@alexcrosbee2747]

I love her triumphant lift of the arms at the end. A champion lifts her trophy.

[@biscuitninja]

Oh WOW! Benedict and Anna in a performance! ❤️

[@lesleyjanedorling]

Thank you so much for posting this, we were there on the night, and feel blessed that we got to experience this performance. My husband and I were blown away by the whole evening, but this particular performance reduced us to tears. It was a night we will never forget.

[@clairenicoll9907]

This is just giving me tingles. Such hope in a message that would have been about tragedy. Anna your performance is brilliant. It brought tears to my eyes.

[@digitaldav1d]

Thank you thank you thank you for releasing the whole thing! This is incredible! I wish I was there!

[@andrewkessinger5966]

The organ performance at the end just goes to show how one happenstance of two people meeting, who appreciate a place like the Royal Albert Hall, can move a whole auditorium of people. I love that Cumberbatch stayed on stage and just sat down to soak it in.

[@relwalretep]

I've watched this a dozen or so times since its release, and it continues to never fail to bring a strong emotional response. Well done to all involved.

[@TheRealMyotis]

An epic finale for an incredible evening!

[@f.sailaway5549]

Thank you so much for giving me and so many people the opportunity to listen to all this unique letters and of course the beautiful music, too. 😍

[@jimatkins3787]

Just overwhelming. Thank you so much, Benedict and Anna.

[@tinamcnalley2575]

Remembering back to my 10 year old self watching anxiously on the black and white TV with my family's best friends. Both Dads arranged time off so we could all watch together. How different life may have seemed after that had something gone wrong. Today, it's as if nothing will ever be right again......

[@stingfan16ify]

That was brilliant Anna! Both you and Benedict were amazing!!! 🎹 📖

[@brianwilson9243]

Anna Lapwood takes me to the Moon every time I hear her play.. and I always return to Earth breathless.

[@kezdylan6756]

..and then her hand on her heart space with the applause, interacting with B.C. Tears are streaming down my face. X

[@tonyfuller]

Powerful speech, poignant playing by Anna with no sheet music!

[@RedneckRealist]

"When they left the earth, our hopes and dreams left with them."

[@PetiteBelle89]

such a special moment- Goosebumps ❤ can’t believe I got to experience it live. I was in tears! Thank you for sharing the video.

[@1rjbrjb]

The Cumberbatchnumber read this very well. Safire was not only Nixon's best speechwriter, he nimbly avoided indictment and wound up at the New York Times as "Professor Word" in the most pedantic column ever written. He is at rest now, but I still like to think of him correcting us from heaven. Eisenhower had a speech ready in case D-Day failed. There is probably a guy - or gal - on every big writing staff assigned to hedge the loss. "Well, we tried. And, hey we'll try again because we have high hopes. High apple pie in the sky hopes". Failure has its own poets.

[@aschoon01]

Beautiful performance. Goosebumps everywhere

[@kevinsomervilleweir5677]

Very moving. I cried for most of it.

[@shirleynitka5030]

I will forever remember that moment. I was at the Newport Folk Festival & Arlo Guthrie mentioned them walking around up there. July 1969. A touching tribute Benedict!

[@LiveForever41]

Anna is an amazing musician 🔥❤️

[@fritillarymeleagris6778]

Very clever of the speechwriter(s) to use 'there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind' in homage to the first stanza of 'The Soldier' by Rupert Brooke, a WW1 poet: 'If I should die, think only this of me: / That there’s some corner of a foreign field / That is for ever England. There shall be / In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; / A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, / Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam; / A body of England’s, breathing English air, / Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

[@johnnotrealname8168]

This was lovely, although Anthony Hopkins was an obvious candidate.

[@deanpapadopoulos3314]

Always so beautiful. Deeply felt and clearly imagined.

[@sphillips370]

My heart soared, was given wings with words and music. Breathtaking.

[@crispycriss]

I could watch this for 30 minutes straight.

[@matts156]

It's an amazing speech, and I'm so glad it wasn't needed. Still, it's good to hear one of the things they had to prepare for. Amazing work by Anna Lapwood on the organ.

[@thefelper.7181]

Just one little detail...he botched the "Mother Earth " line. Yes, the letter says " ...dared to send two of her sons to the unknown... " He read "...to the moon..." which is not that powerful. Otherwise, great.

[@DragonLandlord]

Now I can't help wondering what Armstrong and Aldrin would have said on the radio if this was needed.

[@lancer525]

They would have had no public statements at all, according to Deke Slayton, who was the head of the Astronaut Office at the time. The families would have been brought in to say their goodbyes, and then the communications links would have been turned off.

[@kungfutzu3779]

i would think something like "shove that speech down your throat & get us out of here!"

[@DragonLandlord]

@@lancer525 understandable.

[@Freesnuggz]

this is just so powerful. i needed this. I think we human humans need this. what a way to just...feel this sort of something.

[@sahanaarani5954]

Go Anna... !!!!! 😃👏👏👏

[@shefelldown1]

Anna Lapwood is amazing!!! 💜💜💜

[@justinjex1]

These heros and this speech (though didn’t happen) reminds me of the men of old. My grandfather and my father. How can I look these great men in the eyes and say that I have done anything compared to them.

[@AnnBearForFreedom]

I was just going to comment the music at the end reminded me very much of the music from Interstellar, then I realized it WAS the music from Interstellar, so.... Never mind, LOL.

[@zoecunningham3019]

Outstanding brilliance👏 Combination of the arts, word & music enhanced the emotional mood of the subject 👏Exquisite

[@gerthille1062]

It always surprises me that Hans Zimmer's music is appreciated everywhere, except in Germany. He's just the film music composer. Not more. Maybe it's because in Germany there is a very strict division into serious music (classical music) and light music.

[@Heyiya-if]

Glad as one is that this speech was never necessary, it is as beautiful as it is sorrowful. And … yeah, the Interstellar organ just elevates it to another level. Awesome, in all senses of that word. Now I have to go listen to ‘Go!’ With Public Service Broadcasting just to remember how it really went 😊

[@maximus7288]

Amazing beyond words! Thanks Anna and Benedict! I’ve been always in awe looking at the stars, since childhood, reading books about space, planets and in later years the excellent books from Stephen Hawking, and of course, science fiction about other worlds, civilizations and planets. I know I was born too early maybe to see how mankind travel to other stars, but what I have experienced in my lifetime with all the probe missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto and beyond and of course Mars, and that I may see how humans make some permanent foothold on the Moon and Mars, give me the hope that we’re on the path to reach further in the future. A phrase that has always inspired me when Armaggedon movie came out, was that one on the mission patch: Freedom for All Mankind. We might achieve it in the stars in some distant future.

[@jeffk1482]

Anna Lapwood needs to be a household name. Nobody has a *greater* passion for the art of music, and more importantly, sharing it and communicating it.

[@MrVvulf]

Why is Sir Archibald Clerk Kerr's letter to Lord Pembroke during WW2 not on the channel yet? It's one of the greatest letters of all time. It would be rather short, at only around 2 minutes even with a background introduction, but there are other very short letters/speeches on the channel.

[@philsnead5886]

Sorry, can't hellp imagining the sound of Nixon delivering this.

[@trimule]

The speech would have been given by Richard Nixon. One of our worst Presidents but, he was a decades long professional speaker in a time when oratory and voice (radio and live speeches) were still important and could solemnly intone the needed emotions for a speech like this. Glad he never had to deliver it.

[@eviloverlordsean]

Nice touch for Bill Safire to reference Rupert Brooke... Know that there is a corner of some foreign field / that is forever England

[@sequoiafire5349]

It was amazing how many people cried during this performance.

[@frankycheese]

A heart filled letter, and something In the amazing sound Anna creates playing the organ brings me to tears 😭❤️

[@bw5_ng856]

Love THIS❤️

[@thoughtsintime]

Loved it. Big fan from India - i love letters and still write long hand to people from time to time. Maybe someday I'll be lucky and attend one of these.

[@felsenruh]

How interesting that Mr. Cumberbatch chose to read this letter in - what is to my ear - an American accent.

[@piecesofstarlight]

...Of course he would? It would have been read by an American to an American public on the demise of 2 American citizens who flew with the American Space Program. Nothing in that sentence says "I should definitely use a British accent"

[@pinzykins4715]

Wonderful!! Why no credit for Anna for the work she put into the new arrangement?!

[@anthonybolanos6223]

Wow...

[@B3ASTM0D3.]

What an amazing performance. Gave me the chills. You are soo talented.

[@veronicasart]

so cool to see! 💥💫🍓

[@bk1147]

Beautiful

[@marklouiscornea134]

The chills u get from interstellar is just different.

[@surfacingcom]

Actually and profoundly humbling.

[@DougHanchard]

Bucket list; This theatre.

[@darcy5823]

Haunting. Great performances!

[@bloodstainedelixir]

Please get Matthew Macfadyen to do one of these..

[@poppyseed1987]

This is a wonderful speech and I’m glad no one ever had to hear it, especially Command module pilot Michael Collins who, presumably, would have also been stranded in space.

[@Shardith]

Michael Collins would have been able to return safely without his crewmates. They would have to recalculate for not having the lunar lander attached but it would be doable

[@sts3884]

OMG this is incredible. 😮😮😮😮😭😭😭😭

[@digitaldav1d]

Just noticed Ms Lapwood didn't even have any music, she was playing from memory!

[@derekninabuck5359]

i mean if your familiar with her content, you know she plays the interstellar sound track quite often

[@annelister6152]

anna lapwood ❤️ from 🇧🇷

[@leobehringer9091]

Just wow.

[@Sandwich_Bites]

Go Anna!! This is awesome! Benedict you did a great job as well!!🎉😊

[@kungfutzu3779]

will Walla be there?

[@richardjonsson1745]

I'm not crying...

[@mksd1236]

Zimmer

[@ravensdotter6843]

Bravo!

[@pipa-dealmaedecoracao8573]

🥲🥲

[@nicci6751]

You have a beautiful speaking voice Benedict and you are a truly gifted orator, but, an American accent? I know the Apollo astronauts were American however your natural voice would have done them just as much justice. Kudos to Anne Lapwood, a thrilling end to this piece.

[@oscarsperlich]

Why are actors asked to read? - for my, I cannot understand it.

[@queenlucy11]

Why was Benedict speaking in an American accent? Was it because everyone kept making fun of him for saying penguin weird? Honestly it’s not that weird, he can say it however he wants lol

[@digitaldav1d]

It's because the speech was intended to be read by the US President, and I guess it was written by an American, to be spoken by an American, about two Americans. It makes sense to me.

[@graziacavasino8884]

Vain words, just vain words that would have done no difference in case the astronauts would die.

[@shawnbreen4122]

** Mute alert !!! *** (why would you do that to people's ears)

[@TheDiveO]

Ah, the Brexit Cumberwatch. Doesn't he want his hypocrisy going off the scale by impersonating Dizzy Lizzy this time and playing the Fall in Fall side by side with Farage? He does everything for money, he does.

[@christophercompton274]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the astronauts never left earth’s orbit. They didn’t walk on the moon.