Music performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker as a 3D-printed sculpture: German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once described music as liquid architecture and architecture as frozen music. Schumann’s 4th movement of his third Symphony (Rhenish Symphony) was inspired by the Cologne Cathedral and the geometry for this music sculpture was inspired by the cathedral’s architectural elements and created through a design algorithm that converted the music piece into geometry.
Spearheaded by the creative minds of artist and designer Julia Koerner and curator and project developer Andreas Vierziger, in collaboration with Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings and IFA 2024 this venture transcends traditional boundaries, breathing new life into the abstract nature of music through the tangible medium of 3D-printing.
The essence of FROZEN MUSIC lies in the intricate translation of music into one palpable, three-dimensional sculpture, meticulously crafted 3D-printed artifact. This ambitious undertaking sets out to amplify the sensorial experience of music by materializing its very soul.
At the heart of this endeavor is the transformation of musical compositions through a computational algorithm into geometry. Harnessing the power of computational design methods, the project interprets the amplitude, variation, and character of a musical composition. The sculpture is derived from architectural design processes showcasing a convergence of diverse forms of art.
The sculpture features the fourth movement of Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 3, op. 97, known as the “Rhenish” Symphony. This movement, titled “Feierlich” (solemnly), is interpreted as depicting a ceremony or event within the Cologne Cathedral. Schumann visited the cathedral and attended a ceremony there in 1850, which deeply impressed him and influenced the mood and character of this movement.
Schumann re-created the cathedral in his music, and now his music is being used to re-create elements of the Cologne Cathedral in a sculpture. Julia and her team at JK3D implemented the music piece into an algorithm they designed. This process translates the music into a frozen geometry which represents each part of the music. Further they analyzed the plan drawing of the cathedral, with its varying cross sections of columns and poche, and integrated the profiles into the geometry design. The profiles of the columns are then swept along various strands in the sculpture. The striated geometry of the cathedral structure finds itself again in the elongated and dynamic representation of the music piece.
Julia and Andreas collaborated in Spring 2024 - together with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra in Sweden - on their first set of Frozen Music Sculptures.
