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Chernobyl

Hildur Guðnadóttir, Chris Watson, Sam Slater

Copyright information:Theresa Baumgartner

A monumental live performance of Hildur Guðnadóttirs Emmy Award–winning score for the iconic HBO-series Chernobyl. In Gashouder at Amsterdam’s Westergas, the human dimension of this historical event comes vividly to life in an immersive, large-scale experience – a rare opportunity to experience Guðnadóttir’s music in its full physical force. 


Chernobyl is an immersive sound and light experience in which the audience stands around a central performance space. A spatial arrangement of speakers allows the sound to move throughout the entire venue, at times almost whisper-soft, at others overwhelmingly powerful. The site-specific light installation by Theresa Baumgartner – who approaches scenography from a background in visual art – transforms Gashouder into an industrial, almost abandoned environment. Her lighting design heightens the intensity of the space and traces the iconic building in shadow and light.


For the series – written by Craig Mazin and directed by Johan Renck – Guðnadóttir built her score almost entirely from recordings made inside the abandoned Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania, where the show was filmed. Metallic drones, low industrial rumbles, and layered factory sounds form a dense, slowly shifting soundscape charged with tension. The dynamic live performance by Guðnadóttir and her artistic team is preceded and followed by short performances from the Groot Omroepkoor, featuring music heard in the series as well as other works by Guðnadóttir and David Lang.

Context

HBO’s critically acclaimed TV Miniseries Chernobyl depicts the catastrophic nuclear meltdown at the power plant in Pripyat, Ukraine in 1986. The drama focusses primarily on the consequences for those who lived and worked there, alongside the Soviet Union’s aims to control the information shown to the public. The show received global praise, as well as 19 Primetime Emmy awards, including the Outstanding Musical Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or Special Category.


Creating the score

The musical building blocks for the entire soundtrack were recorded on location in Ignalina Nuclear Plant, a decommissioned power plant in Lithuania, or were made with the composer’s voice. Hildur Guðnadóttir, Chris Watson and Sam Slater visited the plant in August 2018, spending a day recording machinery, 600 meter long rooms, and exploring the sonic potential of the decommissioned powerplant in which 2000 people work each day to disassemble - its sheer scale found its way into the music; it was instrumental in composing this score.


Hildur Guðnadóttir and Sam Slater processed the materials using a catalogue of old tape machines, diving deep into the ambitions of director, Johan Renck. By repitching material using tapes, inaudible frequencies were brought down to create slow, groaning echos of their original inaudible selves.


Hildur’s vocals were the only traditional instrument, used to juxtapose the fragile human narrative through the industrial chaos of the event.


The live performance is prepared as a multichannel work for industrial spaces. There will be limited performances of the piece worldwide, in spaces chosen for their relevance to the music. Current confirmed bookings include abandoned factories, a crematorium, and an engineering plant.

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dates

Sat June 20 8:30 PM

prices

  • default € 45
  • CJP € 15
  • HF Young € 34
  • youth under 18 € 15

information

  • 1 hour 30 minutes (zonder pauze)

Please note:

At this concert, standing places are the norm. A limited number of seats are available (which cannot be reserved).

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