CHAPTER 6.2.7 - 6.2.8

The dramaturgical functions of the music: ten modes

7. Radiophonic methods as compositional tools

With the editing technology of a modern studio the compositional possibilities with recordings that include voices, places and situations in different ways are unlimited. Materials of dramatic scenes, documentary material, field recordings and readings of different kinds of texts can be cut, sliced, overlaid or gradually merge from one to another. An interesting example here is one section in the radio play version of Hamlet II: Exit Ghost, as described in 5.2.7, where several scenes are put together simultaneously.

Example 6.2.7a. Sound: from Hamlet II: Exit Ghost, radio theatre version

This approach of superimposition of dramatic situations were used extensively in Fält, but here transferred to a full scenic performance involving all elements.

Example 6.2.7b. Video: from Fält

The nature of the radiophonic art, as well as in cinematic art, allow the use of sharp cuts between scenes, situations and places as a dramaturgical method. The approach can be used also in stage works. In Hamlet II: Exit Ghost there is examples of very sharp cuts between two scenes, which is the same in both the stage version and in the radio play.

Example 6.2.7c. Video: from Hamlet II: Exit Ghost

This is even more prominent in Fält where one of the most important dramaturgical traits is the sharp cuts between scenes and situations.

Example 6.2.7d. Video: from Fält

8. Sonic scenography

It was with the sound work for Hamlet II: Exit Ghost that I started to consider sounds also as scenography. It means music, a soundscape, which creates a sense of space, a sonic landscape that may suggest a particular emotional state or environment. It can range from abstract soundscapes to concrete environmental sounds. While this approach generally is characterized by static sound textures I often employ slow transformations of the textures. There are numerous examples of such transformations in Hamlet II: Exit Ghost as it is found in almost all of the scenes.

Example 6.2.8a. Sound: from Hamlet II: Exit Ghost, radio theatre version scene 3 + scene 10:2

 This is also very prominent in Fält.

Example 6.2.8b. Sound: from Fält