Our studio professor put us to the challenge of designing an entirely fictional landscape based on a piece of music that we had never heard before. The music that I was randomly assigned was Camille Saint-Saens’ Organ Symphony #3. The symphony itself is over 40 minutes long when played, so I decided to focus on the 10-minute finale. If you listen to the music, you’ll see why:
Organ Symphony #3, 4th Movement
Without going into too much detail, my design is radial and based on three major point of intensity throughout the movement, signaled by a rising decibel level dominated by the organ, perhaps the featured instrument of the piece. These points of intensity, one at the beginning, middle, and end, are connected by a meandering, wandering “bridge” comprised in the music of woodwinds and imagined in the landscape as sections of exploration and eventual discovery.
Interesting and very challenging assignment! Your approach seems reasonable. Let your thoughts play!
thank you for the comment! The assignment did force me to think outside my normal design process.