Uljas Pulkkis: No other art form gave me such chills as opera

28.5.2020 0 Like 0 kommenttia Henrietta Harju

Uljas Pulkkis (b. 1975) is the composer of All the Truths We Cannot See: A Chernobyl Story. We met with him and talked about the start of the project and where he found the musical inspiration for this opera.  

Little by little the music starts to evolve in my head and live a life of its own. When I feel moved by my own music I know it’s the right choice for the scene.

Uljas Pulkkis Composer

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and the work that you do? How did you become an opera composer and do you see yourself primarily as an opera composer?  

I have been composing contemporary music for over 25 years now. I started from scratch in my twenties with almost no musical background. Of course, I played piano as a child, but my family wasn’t musically oriented and none of my relatives is a professional musician.  

The music that made the greatest impact on me was opera, especially Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss and Giacomo Puccini. The combination of orchestral music, singing and acting seems the most effective type of drama there is. No other art form gave me such chills as opera, not even movie. 

Therefore, my first composition was an opera – which is and should remain unperformed – composed using 12-tone technique. I hardly knew the ranges of instruments or voices, but still did a an hour long work with a dramatic structure. I actually didn’t even want it to be performed, as I knew it wouldn’t sound the way I wanted. 

Despite my interest in music, I started to study mathematics and computer science but I somehow managed to get a prize for one of my compositions. It gave me courage to strive for music as a profession. I got in to the Sibelius Academy at my second try and did my master’s quite quickly. Back then I also won several big international composition prizes, which gave me a boost in my career.

I hardly wrote any vocal music for about 10 years, since all I did was commissions for orchestras. After that I realised that opera is the art form I really want to do. This project included 5 works I count as operas and one dramatic cantata, which could be staged. Composing them I’ve also realised how demanding a project an opera performance is.

Depending on the size of the work, there could be hundreds of people involved, which I see as a huge pressure for an artist. The composer and the librettist make the original material, and everybody else must work with that. If there are flaws in the material, thousands of working hours are wasted. Thus composing an opera gives me unbelievable stress, but also the sense of achievement second to none. 

Can you tell us about the process of creating All the Truths? How did the project start? 

All the truths begun when Glenda Dawn Goss, who was an acquaintance of my wife, sent me an email with a sketch for a libretto. This is something that happens quite often. I get 3-4 libretto suggestions a year, usually from people I don’t know.

Many times, as with Glenda, there are no production plans, which often means the work is never going to be performed. However, I took on Glenda’s text because the drama had such great potential. We decided to suggest the project to the Sibelius Academy opera department. Luckily, they happened to seek an English opera to co-produce with the USC Thornton School of Music. At the same time, I was starting my doctorate at SibA, so I could even combine the opera with my artistic research. 

Where did you take the musical inspiration from for All the Truths?  

The musical inspiration for this project comes from the plot. I’ve read tens of books about Chernobyl, Ukraine, Russia, even technical books about nuclear fission. I have tried to imagine how the main characters should sound, how they feel and what are their relations.

During my composition work I even suggested Glenda to change certain people relations and personalities to match the music I have in mind. All this takes time, and I have lived with the musical material for months before I dare to write anything down. Little by little the music starts to evolve in my head and live a life of its own. Usually when I feel moved by my own music, I know it’s the right choice for the scene. 

Why do you think that opera is a good medium to portray political or scientific messages?  What are the messages in All the Truths, and who do you hope will hear them?  

Opera is a good medium for any messages, because it is so immersive. People don’t hear opera by accident, or because they don’t have anything better to do. Opera is always an anticipated event, scheduled weeks or months in advance. When people come to opera they want to be emotionally moved and they usually do. Therefore, any message presented in an opera reaches the audience easily. 

Can you tell us a bit about how you’re planning to work with the performers, as well as with the director and producers of the show? How involved will you be in this part of the production of the show?  

I have been quite a lot in contact with the performers. The music I’ve written is not necessarily optimal just for the singer that is going to do the role. It is usual that certain parts must be transposed or otherwise revised to fit the singer’s potential. This is also a good showcase for them, and if they have some specialties in their voice, I must give them a chance to shine. Of course, I have some ideas about the visualisation of the work, but I’ve learned to keep them to myself, as it is not where I’m good at, my job is the music. 

Other projects that you are involved in at the moment?  

The opera takes the most of my composition time right now. This year, I composed a commissioned work for the Chelsea Festival in New York which was cancelled for Covid. I also made a choir work to be performed in the autumn. 

Furthermore, I’m doing my doctoral thesis, which is unusually a computer program, which tells you from the score if the instrument is audible or not. I use the program also to compose this opera to ensure each soloist can be heard through the orchestration. Currently I’m coding a mobile/web-app of my program, which hopefully will be ready by the end of the summer, and usable for all the composers and conductors around the world.