6 Defining Moments
with Copenhagen Phil (2019)
'6 afgørende øjeblikke' (Six decisive moments) is a series of six concerts and a podcasts. The concerts are all set in different scenographies and the symphony orchestra is accompanied by actors telling the story of the symphony and its composer. Every concert tells the story of a decisive moment in the life of the composer, in music history or even world history itself.
Leningrad. 1942. The second world war is raging. For almost a year the Germans have sieged the city and starved its inhabitants. People are dying, with every minute that passes, from hunger. The only surviving composer in town gets a job: Gather up an orchestra. Play the music that will carry the city’s name: The Leningrad Symphony. A piece of music about survival and hope.This is the story of a group of starving musicians who brought forth a miracle in the middle of a war zone. And about the city that wouldn’t give up. Ever.
Working with terms such as oppression, war, desperation, hunger and survival, we created a symbol of this extreme tension above the orchestra’s heads. This massive floating entity shows various states the musicians would be in during these rehearsals.
A giant floating boulder creates an illusion of the constant pressure put on the musicians, the slowly rotting bread and the meat the ongoing starvation and cannibalism in the city. Then death in the shape of a giant skull, which for the final crescendo turned into its true form - the politician, in the shape of dictator Stalin.
Credits
Concept, Animation & Live Performance: Dark Matters
Head Frame: Fin Facon
Technical Partner: Creative Technology
Sound Design: Third Ear
Client: Copenhagen Phil