The Music as Narrator- an exploration of the musical gesture in opera

In most cases, an opera is created by giving the composer a text to set to music. It can be based on an original idea from the playwright, the composer, or a shared idea. A book, movie or play can also be the basis for the story formulated in the opera text: the libretto. The Music as Narrator explores an alternative process for composing a music drama work based on the singers, the instrumentalists, and the music itself. 

The practical research part takes place in regular rehearsals with two opera singers and three instrumentalists: the Opera Group. For the working sessions, I compose musical material - both traditionally notated, and material as a starting point for improvisation. I want to explore how the music itself, but also how the musical communication between the participants can create dramatic situations and events to build a work. The starting point is that everyone works equally and shifts between different functions that can be found in musical storytelling and musical structures. The traditional roles of either accompanist or soloist will change, and the particular gestures of each person's music-making can become part of the scenic narrative. The space is intended to be used in its entirety, with no predetermined "stage" and "orchestra pit" locations. The opera develops step by step in the exploratory work together with the Opera Group, and will be notated/documented in a score.

The aim is to explore in-depth all the possibilities of evoking associations, images, stories and drama using only music, singers, instrumentalists and an empty floor space. It also involves exploring methods for the creation of new operatic works in an organic process, where one can have a more intuitive flow and timeliness of the story to be told, as opposed to traditional opera, where creation processes are generally very slow. How can musical wordless stories, acts and actions be assembled into an operatic work, providing an alternative basis for composition? How can the compositional process and the practical music making/acting on a stage floor be more integrated in opera? Would it be possible to write down the work in a score that is so open that it could be done with, for example, alternative instruments and perhaps even vocal ranges? Would it be possible to interpret and add text to the music later in the process instead of - as has always been done in opera - composing music to a text?

The regular working sessions with the Opera Group - when scenic-musical ideas are tested in practice - will be video recorded. The recordings will be analyzed jointly by me and the Opera Group to find material that can be developed scenically and musically. They will serve as a guide for further composing, showing the direction in which the music and an emerging drama want to move. The musical composition will take place between the working sessions, and the compositional material will consist of the recorded material and analysis of the films. Hopefully the work will result in a scenic work with the Opera Group in the form of a short opera, a score and a written description of the methods and process. I also hope that the project can serve as inspiration and guidance in creating new opera works with increased opportunities for a more mobile, intuitive and organic approach based on musical methods.

2023-2028