On January 27, the premiere of director Viesturs Kairis’s new production – the melodrama of Henrik Ibsen’s ideas – will take place in the Great Hall of the Daile Theater. “Brands”which returns to the theater in a new, modern translation, echoing also the legendary 1975 Arnold Liniņš production, included in the Latvian Cultural Canon.
Composer Jēkabs Jančevskis has created music for theater performances before (J. Goldman’s “Lion in Winter” (2012, director – Juris Jonelis), JV Goethe’s “Klavigo” at the Latvian National Theater (2016, director – Folkers Šmits), etc., but “Brands” is his debut on the stage of the Daile Theater and the biggest show so far. .
In conversation with Dāvi EnĖeli – about the presence of acoustic and electronic music in the performance, about the possibility to work with sound spatiality in the Daile Theater, about the soundscapes in Ibsen’s text, the Latvian translations of “Branda” and how they sound, as well as about Branda’s song, which was written by Edvīns Raupas Viestura for Kairis’s production.
I assume that you have thought about the questions, what is theater music in general, what is the role and function of music in the theater? Has “Brands” given any new point of view on these issues?
Yes, I have had experience in theater music, but I would say little. Of course, I am very attracted to the theater, but somehow it just happened that it never did. But this is a big show, a big hall, a big director and a big creative team.
I hope this is the start of something new. I threw myself into the unknown, and that’s what set me free, to finally have the opportunity to not follow the paths I knew.
Do you have any new points of reference when thinking specifically about theater music? What do you find interesting about it as a composer?
I realized that music should not be disturbed. In the previous projects I was involved in, I don’t think I really got it. Maybe it wasn’t that ripe yet. More than anything, I thought I needed this music. In the end, I started dictating to the director what to do, and it turned out badly. Ego must be put aside. But this time it didn’t bother me. I simply offered Viestura what came to my mind, and somehow, very organically, everything found its place. There is one soundtrack that we didn’t use, maybe two, but basically all of my musical fantasies. But yes – music should not disturb, music should help. Then it’s great.
In the last few days, several people have asked me a question with the statement that “good theater and cinema music is the one that you don’t notice”. I cannot agree with that. The music has to give characteristics to the performance. Maybe I’m thinking old-fashioned, but it’s important to me that when a person leaves the theater or cinema, they still live with some musical theme. Maybe he still hears this music on his way home on the trolleybus, and it prompts him to return to thinking about what he saw in the show.
It’s not like the music has to be imperceptible and then it will be super good music. This is a false statement. But it should not hinder – it should simply help. With all the help – why can’t it be good music?
Yes, but whether the music helps and not hinders can only be understood in the rehearsal process. How did this creative process develop?
The last two weeks have been very busy. I was so excited about this project that I wrote the first track on the first day we met. It was about a year and a half ago. Outside of my usual work, I sat down to this as if in another world, and the theater gave me a kind of breeze. Therefore, a large part of the music was already prepared, but in the last 2-3 weeks the volume has doubled, tripled. You shouldn’t be stubborn and say that there won’t be more – you have to feel. If you feel that the actors are struggling a bit or something, then you have to help, you have to find an extra hour in the day to do it.
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