Clive Christian creates the Sound of Perfume

by Grant Osborne, 29 January 2009

Clive Christian has teamed up with the Royal College of Music to explore what they describe as the 'evocative and invisible art of perfume and music. The project, which started in October, asked 50 student composers at the RCM to create a piece of music to represent one of the Clive Christian fragrances.

The students were given the story behind each fragrance before each scent was fanned into the room. The students were each randomly given one of the three Clive Christian fragrances (X, 1872 and No. 1) and then had until December 5th to translate the olfactory experience into a piano composition.

Nine finalists were then selected to play on the 4th February 2009 at The Britten Theatre for an event named The Sound of Perfume. Three winners will be chosen and awarded a cash prize. Judges for the event are Clive Christian, Robert Winston, Debbie Wiseman, Tolga Kashif, Gillian de Bono, Beverly Aspinall and Tim Rhys-Evans.

Money raised from the event will go towards the establishment of a new scholarship to support a composer through their studies at the RCM.

Tickets and further information about the event are available from the Sound of Perfume website.

Look out for an interview with Victoria Christian soon on Basenotes.