The archive · Content & Film · Marketing decision · 2022-2023
LSO renders Simon Rattle's final season as motion-captured art that falls at the crescendo
For Rattle's last LSO season, an animation tracks his conducting by motion data and builds an art piece that drops at the crescendo.
London Symphony Orchestra
What it had to solve
The London Symphony Orchestra's 2022-2023 season would be Sir Simon Rattle's last at the orchestra, and since he joined, each season's film had been a unique animation tracking his conducting. The orchestra needed a farewell that honoured his artistry, not just the man.
How it works
The London Symphony Orchestra's 2022-2023 season was Sir Simon Rattle's last at the orchestra, and the LSO needed a campaign that could mark the end of an era. Since he joined, each season's film had been a unique animation that tracks his conducting, captured by motion data.
The farewell idea drew a parallel between music and art: The Master Conductor. Rattle's gestures create an expressive art piece, painterly in texture with a sculptural physicality. The piece builds following his every move until the crescendo, when the sculpture dramatically drops to the floor, symbolising the end of an era.
The result is a tribute made of the conductor's own artistry rather than archive footage: an audience watches a sculpture form gesture by gesture and fall at the climax. The work is archived by D&AD as professional campaign work.
Why it lands
- Motion data made the invisible craft of conducting visible as a form audiences could watch grow.
- Timing the collapse to the crescendo lets the music itself deliver the emotional goodbye.
- Making the final season the last in a series of motion-captured films gave the farewell a built-up history.
What it did
The campaign turned invisible conducting into something an audience could watch being made: each gesture added to a growing artwork, and the collapse at the climax delivered the goodbye. The work is archived by D&AD as professional campaign work.
What you can take
When the news is a great departure, let the departing person's own craft carry the goodbye: motion data made Rattle's gestures the brush that drew his farewell.
Since then
The film marked the end of Rattle's tenure with the London Symphony Orchestra, whose 2022-2023 season was announced as his last. The campaign is archived by D&AD as a reference for data-driven, art-led farewell storytelling.
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