On the border between the visible and the invisible
Childhood. Family. Love. Imagination, art. Religion. Violence. Bergman’s way of pushing us to big subjects and transporting us on the border between the visible and invisible worlds feels close to me.
The emphasis on the children’s perspective is reflected in the music of this performance in the fact that I do not avoid even childish feelings and associations, I do not shy away from beauty, horror, sadness, conflict or any genre. I transport children and other characters in this adult fairy tale through very different worlds with a small string orchestra and subtle electronic music, as well as a singer watching the events from afar. I will also use the Protestant Bach in the performance as a tribute to Bergman, whose favourite composer he was. Another perspective on the relationship with God and mysticism is brought by an ancient synagogue melody from Ukraine.
Bergman worked in theatre and film, as well as opera and puppetry. This resonates strongly with me, because I myself have worked with all these sports, each of which works with its own logic. Our performance is based on a book adapted by Bergman himself from the film script, which shows the dramaturgy of the film. That is why I approach the music in this performance with mixed media, but perhaps most of all in a cinematic way, building close-ups and broad overviews, a small world and a large boundless space.
The music and sound design were built over an unusually long period of time with sound designer Jaakko Virmavirta . The carefully made dramaturgical and genre-researching preliminary work enabled a particularly fine, enthusiastic, conversational and equal collaboration for sound and music, which I have rarely been able to achieve in the production pressures of institutional theatres.
During the process, the big themes have moved the tectonic plates in me. Right now, I’m thinking about what kind of childhood I’ve been able to offer my own children. What twists and turns and stumbles in my own life have left traces on my children? Has my momentarily all-consuming art-making been distressing to them? Do they know for sure that I love them immensely? Thinking these thoughts is partly painful and forces you to look the truth straight in the eye. That’s what Bergman is like for me.
Sanna Salmenkallio
Composer-musician-sound designer