In a breathtaking video posted to Youtube Sunday by Greenpeace Spain, Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi performed his piece “Elegy for the Arctic” on a floating platform near the Isle of Svalbard in Norway.
The haunting video was created to support the organization’s “Save the Arctic” initiative, which seeks to make the Arctic declared an internationally protected area.
The surreal clip begins with Einaudi sitting in front of a grand piano on a white float that resembles a stylized iceberg, drifting in the icy water in front of the Wahlenbergbreen glacier.
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After turning his head to the sound of ice breaking off the glacier, he closes his eyes, and begins to play. Einaudi’s music is mixed with the sounds of the hissing ice sloshing around him throughout the video. At one point, his piano playing is even drowned out by the booming sound of massive chunks of ice crashing from of the glacier.
Einaudi appears to be near tears throughout the clip.
“Being here has been a great experience,” he said in a press release. “I could see the purity and fragility of this area with my own eyes and interpret a song I wrote to be played upon the best stage in the world. It is important that we understand the importance of the Arctic, stop the process of destruction and protect it.”
“Elegy for the Arctic” was specially composed by Einaudi for the Svalbard performance. Einaudi is known for scoring a variety of movies, T.V. shows and trailers. He’s also released over a dozen solo albums.
The video, as well as subsequent repostings of the clip by Greenpeace and Einaudi, have each been viewed hundreds of thousands of times as of today. According to Greenpeace, the concert is the most northerly grand piano performance ever held.
