The following are a collection of extracts from a BBC Radio documentary
called Thank You For The Music - From Waterloo to Mamma Mia. It
highlighted the composing achievements of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and
was first broadcast in January 2002.
The third program in the three part series, focused on Andersson and Ulvaeus'
achievements in the world of musical theatre. Contributions to the Kristina
från Duvemåla segment of the program were made by: Björn,
Trevor Nunn, Carl
Magnus Palm and the show's presenter Richard Allinson.
These extracts that refer to Kristina appear in the order that they
appeared on the show and have been edited slightly to flow as written text.
Björn Ulvaeus:
After CHESS, both Benny and I said ”Not another musical!” But after a while,
it was there again. The attraction and the wish to write another musical. And so
we started looking for a story. And this time we definitely wanted to base it on
something well known. Something proven. So we said “why don’t we look at
Nordic/Scandinavian/Swedish literature?” And finally we ended up with this
mammoth novel, which is something like 2,000 pages long. It’s by one of the most
famous Swedish authors, called Vilhem Moberg.
He’d written about emigrants going from the south of Sweden in the 1850’s
over to America to end up in Minnesota which most of them did. But we said, “We
are fools! We’ll be punished for this!” That novel/cycle of novels is really,
almost sacred in Sweden. For one thing, we could anticipate, (or rather, I
could, as lyricist), ”What is he doing with Vilhem Moberg?!” and ”How can he
treat him this way?”
"It is by far the most accomplished piece of writing for the
music theatre for
a decade. I mean it is completely sensational!"
-Trevor Nunn
Carl Magnus Palm:
Kristina was the first thing Benny and Björn did that was
unanimously received as a masterpiece. I think that was the point in time when
they were elevated to a Swedish national treasure. The music is very much Benny
Andersson/Folk style. You can hear that it comes very much from his heart and
mind.
Trevor Nunn (Director of the English National Theatre):
It is by far the most accomplished piece of writing for the music theatre for
a decade. I mean it is completely sensational!
The ambition that these two have lived up to is vast and the accomplishment
absolutely sensational. If there are any doubts in anybody’s mind about the
achievement of CHESS, then listen to Kristina and you’ll be aware of
mighty talents of the musical theatre.
Björn Ulvaeus:
The biggest moment, I think, apart from the end, is possibly Du Måste
Finnas, which in English is something like You Must Exist/You Have To
Be There.”
She’s a very religious woman, Kristina, and this song is about the first time
in her life that she had any kind of doubt in her mind that there is a God out
there. Various terrible things have happened to her and she goes out into the
darkness of the winter night and sings this song, to God really, and tells him
‘Please tell me. You have to be there.’
Richard Allinson:
Kristina från Duvemåla is currently being translated into English
for a possible new production in America.
