" One Easter holiday (Maundy Thursday) seven or eight years ago, a few friends were over and I had some task to attend to in the kitchen. Björn and I had spoken many times about finding a story which could serve as the basis of a new musical after Chess. Something sufficiently light and interesting. But right at that moment when I was returning from the kitchen, it struck me that we shouldn't settle for light and interesting. The search should focus rather on material one is passionately interested in. I prefer to work in such a manner, with a story in which I could personally identify. What's more is that it should preferably incorporate my interest in folk music. "So there I was, standing in the kitchen, wondering which was my favorite book through the years. The answer was crystal clear: Vilhelm Moberg's The Emigrants. "I discovered those books during my time with Hepstars. I was barely 20 years old and reading the novels was a significant experience. Actually, the story inspired some music already back then. Björn and I made a song called, "Träskofolket" (Farm folks/People of wooden shoes). Well, nothing really came of it. It was a simple tune and pretty Swedish. It became the flip side of some record. We sang it once with folk singer Harry Brandelius at a Lucia celebration in the town of Västervik. I recall that he thought it was good, anyway. "So, from the kitchen, I phoned Björn right away. 'The Emigrants!' I said, 'That's the one.' And as I remember it he was instantaneously on board. "And then of course these things take time. Soon came the questions. How shall we do it? Are we permitted? Is it artistic sacrilege to tackle a masterpiece? And we had considered doing something light, not a story which required four novels to tell. Yet, for me, Kristina had been the centerpiece around which The Emigrants evolves. It is not she who initiates the emigration, but it is Kristina who decides that they would go. And it was obvious to me that the musical should center around and flow from her emotions, that the plot should proceed through Kristina sensually. "We wrote Chess with the feeling that the art of the musical was poorly achieved. With the exception of West Side Story, some of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classics, and perhaps Evita, most of the genre's accomplishments were, frankly, rather dull. In most of the shows, we believed that the music existed to support the story but at the time we thought that the music should come first. "So we learned a lot from Chess. In order to be exceptional musical theater there must be a good story to support it. That is the foundation of the piece. From this source springs the music. When we began to discuss a new musical Björn was still living in England and we said then that if it doesn't work next time it certainly won't be the fault of the story. "That experience was especially important to me when I wrote the music to Kristina. Listening to Kristina from Duvemåla on CD can never compare to seeing the performance. It is the show in its entirety which counts. The performance itself is greater than the music. When I make music for simply music's sake, I would work by a different method. For Kristina I have adapted myself for the text and the theater scenes. And that is exactly as it should be. "At the same time the music is completely my own, straight through. No compromises. A four minute pop song could be crafted with a piano and a guitar like Björn and I have done before, and that we could very well do again. However, a musical is simply not a marriage of convenience. It must be thoroughly supported by the emotions of the music and therefore one needs to rely on oneself. Completely. I'm sure that I am saddened and gladdened for different reasons than you, but if I don't respond to anything in the music than certainly neither will you. That's why it is so time consuming to write. Something that sounds good one day may not elicit the same reaction a few weeks later. It's just a matter of reworking the piece. It is more likely for the music to become really good when one works in this way - but at the same time, one cannot dismiss that original intuitive feeling." Next page The Musical | Background | Interactive guide | Merchandise | Downloadables | Swedish