SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

DIRECTED BY HEDI SLIMANE
© HEDI SLIMANE PHOTOGRAPHY AND FILM

MOJAVE DESERT
LOS ANGELES
JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2024

MAKE-UP ARTIST AARON DE MEY
HAIR STYLIST ESTHER LANGHAM
HAIR COLORIST ALEX BROWNSELL

IN 1969, BERNSTEIN DESCRIBES THE "SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE" AS THE FIRST PSYCHEDELIC SYMPHONY EVER COMPOSED MORE THAN 100 YEARS BEFORE THE DAWN OF THE MOVEMENT IN THE LATE 1960’S.

(...)THOSE SOUNDS YOU'RE HEARING COME FROM THE FIRST PSYCHEDELIC SYMPHONY IN HISTORY, THE FIRST MUSICAL DESCRIPTION EVER MADE OF A TRIP, WRITTEN ONE HUNDRED THIRTY ODD YEARS BEFORE THE BEATLES, WAY BACK IN 1830 BY THE BRILLIANT FRENCH COMPOSER HECTOR BERLIOZ. HE CALLED IT "SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE", OR "FANTASTIC SYMPHONY", AND FANTASTIC IT IS, IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD, INCLUDING "PSYCHEDELIC".

HEDI SLIMANE DISCOVERED THE "SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE" AT THE AGE OF 11 AND BECAME PASSIONATE ABOUT THE ROMANTIC MUSICAL PIECE BY THE YOUNG BERLIOZ.

HECTOR BERLIOZ WAS ONLY 26 YEARS OLD WHEN HE WAS IN AN OBSESSIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH ENGLISH ACTRESS HARRIET SMITHSON, WHICH LED HIM TO COMPOSE THE “SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE” ON DECEMBER 5TH, 1830 IN PARIS.

"NOW I'M SURE THAT ANY OF YOU WHO HAS EVER HAD A CRUSH ON SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T RETURN YOUR FEELING WILL UNDERSTAND THAT PASSIONATE MELODY PERFECTLY; AND YOU CAN EASILY SEE HOW A LOVESICK MUSICIAN COULD BECOME OBSESSED BY IT. AND IF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU'RE READY TO HEAR THE SYMPHONY." - LEONARD BERNSTEIN, MAY 1969 

BERLIOZ DEFINED HIS MUSICAL DRAMA "SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE", WRITTEN BETWEEN FEBRUARY AND APRIL 1830,- AS AN "IMMENSE INSTRUMENTAL COMPOSITION OF A NEW GENRE".
COMPOSED IN THE MIDST OF THE ROMANTIC PERIOD, HECTOR BERLIOZ EXCELS IN THE SPACIALIZATION OF HIS ORCHESTRATION.

© CALIFORNIA TEEN COWBOY
HEDI SLIMANE

PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES AND FILM PROJECT FROM 2013 TO 2024
BRAYDEN LIBERIO, CALIFORNIA
FEBRUARY 2024
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