In this moving film, Italian Pianist and Composer Ludovico Einaudi performs his piece, “Elegy for the Arctic," while on a floating platform in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. The moving and haunting film and music are augmented all the more by a fortuitously timed moment that captures everything Einaudi is trying to convey.
I'll never stop believing in the power of music to evoke emotion and change. I frequently draw on natural phenomena in my own work, and I find there's often a deep connection and organic dialogue between music and the natural world. Thus, I was particularly drawn to this short film, in which Greenpeace España placed Einaudi on a floating platform modeled after ice in front of the Wahlenbergbreen glacier in Svalbard, Norway, a place that has been hit hard by climate change. As he plays his lament for the death of the glacier, it seems to utter dying breaths as parts of it crumbles around him, creating a dull roar in the distance. The effect is arresting.
The film is a great example of how an interesting concept can make for an original and moving piece that can inspire discussion and change. I hope it moves you as much as it did me.
