Peugeot cars have always been synonymous with comfort in driving, and the brand wanted to communicate this quite vividly in the latest spot for the new Peugeot 508, in which a famous classical composer swaped pianos for cars to play the longest musical score in the world.
The campaign was created by BETC Paris, which called on the famous composer and pianist Riopy, known for his work on Oscar-winning Hollywood productions such as “The Danish Girl” and “The shape of water”. Together they have taken up a unique challenge: to compose the first piano piece written to be interpreted by a car, Peugeot 508, on the largest score in the world.
But to “write” the longest score, one needs quite a big canvas, and the perfect one was found in the form of abandoned airport Željava on the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
6 months of work with engineers, technicians and musicians, 190 music notes produced, 1,890m of track… That’s what was needed to produce the key element of the performance: a life size replica of the musician’s original score and a genuine technical challenge. For Riopy, composing a piece for the new Peugeot 508 was a first: “As a musician I’m always looking to push back the limits. I’m pleased that I succeeded in creating a piece that speaks to the heart while respecting a number of constraints. It is a totally new way of creating music”.
With a system of laser sensors that react to variations in colour and shape, and an on-board connection in a MIDI unit, each time the vehicle passes over a note, it triggers the associated sound in the original score. By seeking out the notes one after the other, the new Peugeot 508 re-interprets the piece by RIOPY live. Check out the behind the scenes video below:
For John S. Park (QUAD), the award-winning director, the location was an obvious choice: “With its kilometres of galleries hollowed out of the mountain and 5 landing strips, the military base at Željava was a dream location for an experiment that no one had ever attempted before”.
