Meikyoku Album +「Manuel Cardoso: Requiem」

This video was made for the NHK program, “Meikyoku Album + (plus),” showcasing works that visualize masterpieces of classical music, made by various visual creators. For my own visualization, I chose Requiem, a piece for an unaccompanied chorus by 16th century composer Manuel Cardoso.
It is a “polyphonic” composition of multiple melodies that consist of notes of varying pitch and length. The voices of the six vocalists, who each sing a different melody, are expressed through an animation of the lyrics written in longhand style, according to the pitch and length of each note. The idea was to help the viewer/listener understand by way of visual perception the structure of the polyphony—a style that has become rare these days. Each line represents at once the respective singer’s breath.
While being highly surprised at the high evaluation given to this kind of work, it also made me feel very strongly the significance of the TDC’s evaluation of design beyond economic aspects. I think the fact that I received this reward will be encouraging for various types of creators. Thank you very much.