Thornton Opera
Statements & Bios

Composer & Librettist Statements

Uljas Pulkkis, composer

Musical magical realism
 
When I start a new opera composition, I try to find inspiration somewhere outside musical circles. In this opera, the inspiration came from literature, from Rushdie and Murakami books that reminded me of Glenda’s libretto. I even call my musical language in this opera musical magical realism. This means, in practice, that while the surface of the music sounds familiar there are surreal sounding elements that make this opera unique and contemporary. In this work, I especially concentrated on orchestration, and how much it alone affects the perceived music.
 
With music it is possible to regulate the pace of actions, to make a scene feel tense or relaxed, furious, or calm, real, or magical. The pace of actions also links to the emotional layer of the story, and the emotions are guided with many musical parameters, such as tempo, harmony, register, melody, and orchestration. A simple “I love you” sounds very different backed up by a celestial harp (relaxed, calm, magical) than by a haunting trombone (tense, furious, real).
 
In composing this opera, the interesting task was, that there are two concurrent mindsets on stage: humans and nature. Therefore, in many scenes you can hear two different interlocked music themes, one for humans and one for animals or river. The musical idea is that the two do not understand each other, counting out the wise characters in the story: Lana and Babusya. The opera ends two times, in the end of both acts. The first ending is a traditional finale of human actions, and the second ending is the clash of two worlds, a magical realism finale.
 
I also wrote this opera with the idea that the composition works as concert music. This means that the music consists of subsequent "pieces" that either intensify or calm the drama. Thus, you will hear many individual songs, arias and duets, one of which is particularly important: Babusya's ballad to Ukraine in the first act. I wrote that two years ago when the world was very different than now, but the music is more current than ever.
 
This opera composition is part of my artistic doctoral work at the Sibelius Academy. The subject of my research is orchestration, especially the association of a singer and an orchestra. The singers' stems have been written for the voices of the opera's soloists studying in Finland, as I got to know their voices during the opera's composition.
 

Glenda Dawn Goss, librettist
 
“The essential is invisible to the eye.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
 
Six years ago, when a friend suggested I write a libretto on Chernobyl, I found the idea so audacious I couldn’t leave it alone. What words could hold the horror of total destruction? What music convey ghastly conflagration? What redemption could be found in such anguish and devastation?
Thus began a quest to answer those questions.
 
Writing a libretto on an historical topic is a kind of research project. You need to know the facts insofar as they can be determined. But then you must tap into the feelings. What drew me were the shattering events of a nuclear explosion, wrought by a Soviet culture of lies, flawed reactors, and human error. Yet even more, the humanity of “ordinary” Ukrainians. Who were not ordinary at all.
Consider: Idealistic young people working at Chernobyl, proud to be creating a world free of fossil fuel. Self-sacrifice of firemen, helicopter pilots, soldiers, doctors, nurses, working with no protection to save others. Resilience in the face of losing everything most loved: “my brother,” “our parents,” “my beloved,” “my child!” “Our homeland.”
 
Homeland is not just backdrop but participant, personified in the River Voices and animals, who observe human folly and celebrate the departure of their main predator: mankind. They offer the only hope for survival and respite in the maw of tragedy.
 
Deeper undercurrents are the terrible truths you cannot see: Radiation tainting your child’s playground, your pets’ fur, the food you eat, the wood you burn, You yourself.
Essential Verities as Babusya says, “Of Knowledge humans have a lot /But in their arrogance forgot/ Knowledge and Wisdom are not the same.” The Unborn aborted for fear of deformities.
 
I found myself reaching out to poetry and ancient texts in search of language that would itself be musical and have power to convey the unspeakable. This libretto became my Elegy for the Victims of Chernobyl.
 
Never did I imagine anything worse. Yet in today’s horrific crisis, the words of Ukraine’s brave president ring with the spirit his people showed at Chernobyl: “life will triumph over death, light over darkness.”