How would you musically describe teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and her message of ecological urgency? That was the challenge for the Swedish composer-duo Rebekka Karijord and Jon Ekstrand, who took this opportunity to create an unconventionally compelling, hybrid score for the intimate documentary, I Am Greta– streaming on Hulu this Friday.
To create this cinematic score, Karijord and Ekstrand were cautious not to sound too heavy or emotionally leading. Yes, the thought of the world crumbling from the effects of climate change is depressing and horrifying, but the music shouldn’t necessarily contribute more somberness. In the end, with a blend of classical instrumentation and electroacoustic elements, the duo struck the right balance.
“With the music for I Am Greta, we aimed to find a sonic counterpoint to the friction between the shy, contemplative inner world of Greta, and the unbounded energy of the natural world and climate change movement… So, we choose to work with repetition and persistent musical patterns, often illustrated through energetic string arpeggios. This, we felt, helped underline the remarkable persistence and focus Greta has on the climate issue, as well as that of the relentlessness of nature.”
Combining a string octet, modular synthesizers, and a voice instrument (built by Rebekka) of 25 male, female, and non-binary singers from around the world in their full range is what brings this soundtrack to life. Listen to the track Tic Toc off of the forthcoming album below:
The full soundtrack is available to stream now on the OONA Recordings website and on all streaming platforms, including Spotify.
I Am Greta tells the story of Thunberg through compelling, never-before-seen footage. Starting with her one-person school strike for climate justice outside the Swedish Parliament, Swedish director Nathan Grossman follows Greta – a shy student with Asperger’s – in her rise to prominence, and her galvanizing global impact as she sparks school strikes around the world. The film culminates with her astonishing wind-powered voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York City.
