The Story of the Harp

Music-poetry project by Zvezdana Novaković

Based on the motives of the 1st, 40th and 41st stanzas of the poem Kalevala
Running time 30 minutes.

Author of music and performer Zvezdana Novaković
Director Tin Grabnar
Puppet designer Darka Erdelji
Lighting designer Kristjan Vidner
Photographer Dorian Šilec Petek
Video designer Gregor Gobec

The magically soft sound of the harp lulls us into ancient tales full of adventures, temptations and entanglements. These tales transport us to a time in which people used to tell each other stories accompanied by the sound of the harp. When was that? So far back in time that we have forgotten how enjoyable it is to sit by the fire and listen to fairytales. And who was it that built that resounding instrument? The Finnish epic Kalevala offers the answer: travelling across the great wide sea, the hero of its (and our) tale catches a gigantic pike. After a sumptuous meal, he is left with the skeleton of that enormous fish. Resourceful as he is, he tightens the strings between the fangs that proudly stood in the pike’s jaws and thus creates a magical instrument – the kantele. No one else but our hero could have lured gentle melodies out of the instrument; it was only between his fingers that the strings would resonate. It was fortunate that he was so resourceful: thanks to him, the kantele would stir our imagination for centuries ahead and accompany storytellers while telling tales.

The project The Story of the Harp unites the musical power of the harp, a close relative to the kantele, with puppet theatre, storytelling and singing: various theatre forms are interwoven into a story of a resourceful hero who resists envy, greed and voracity. For him as well as for us, music is something to which it is worth dedicating our time.