– I got a phone call asking if I wanted to make music for the game, and I thought it was exciting. So now I have stirred up a lot of thoughts about how the music can become a natural part of the story that is told in the amphitheater here at Giske. Like a kind of windy film music, the composer smiles.
And he has no ambitions to create music that will give an illusion of the Viking age.
– We don’t know anything about that music, but on the inside the Vikings were probably just like us. They were both angry, sad and in love as we are. Such feelings probably become the starting point for the music.
New script
The composer will have a close collaboration with the director of this year’s Giskespel, Rolf Kristian Larsen. Larsen is also a playwright, and has written a completely new play script.
Rolf Kristian Larsen has written a new script and will also direct this year’s game.
Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB
– Of course it will be about the events and the events before the battle at Stiklestad, assures Britt Giske Andersen, who is the day-to-day manager of Giskespelet.
– But we can probably also promise that those who know the game well from before will be surprised.
More music
Giske Andersen says that there has been a great desire for more music in the game, and that Rune Berg was the first person they contacted when they wanted to hire a game composer.
He is from Giske, and most people probably know him as a member of The Margarets and Number Seven Deli. Two bands with great success in the nineties and the beginning of the twenties. In 2022, Rune Berg made his debut as an author with the novel “Nesten sanne historier om Rune Lisbeth Berg”.
– The publisher would like a sequel to the debut book, and the plan was for me to get started on it now. But now the assignment from Giske gets first priority.
Solid musicians
Berg has brought along three solid musicians who will help record his music. It is violinist Lise Sørensen, Simen Mæhlum on percussion and Åge Reite on keyboard. Mæhlum was also a member of Number Seven Dehli.
– It will only be me who will play live in the amphitheater. The rest is recorded.
Like most others from Giske, Rune Berg has of course also been involved in the game.
– At the very first game in 1995, I got a Viking costume and a sword in my hand. And as far as I remember, the most important thing about the role was to stand completely still.
Rune also has another memory from this game.
– Secret Garden was hired to hold a concert, and it was great for us to experience them up close.
And it was also Secret Garden that ensured that young Berg was quoted in independent VG. As a seconded reporter for Nytt i Uka, he interviewed Fionnuala Sherry – one part of the duo.
– She said that she was not at her father’s funeral that day, but chose to be at Giske. It was quickly picked up by VG, and the case was my first and only journalistic scoop, laughs Rune Berg.
Tour with Borg
This will be the first time he will write music for a drama from scratch. But Rune has provided music for both TV series and commercials, and he was also musical director for the performance “Bikubesong” at Det Norske Teatret. In his studio in Oslo, he produces music for many artists – including Benny Borg.
– I have just finished a long tour with Benny where I was a guitarist.
New names
Britt Giske Andersen assures that much is in order before the game premiere on 20 June.
– The well-being committee is in the process of filling the freezers with baking until the rehearsals start on 1 June, and the costume team is in full swing. As usual, the game is a huge effort where many people both on Giske and the other islands show up.
This year, as I said, there is a new director and a new composer, and Ellinor Nedregård is responsible for the choreography. She is also new this year. The main roles Torberg and Ragnhild are played by Morten Svartveit and Kristina Grimstad Nordstrand. Svartveit will probably be recognized by many as the daily manager of Varg IL in “Heimebane”.
– And we think it’s great that the role of Ragnhild is played by Kristina, who is a real Giske girl, says Britt Giske Andersen.
Local royalty
As usual, a lot of other things will also happen in connection with the game, and the organizers are particularly happy that Are Sende Osen is coming with a special edition of “Kongerekka”.
Are Sende Osen comes to Giske with a special edition of “Kongerekka”.
Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB
– He has considered our own line of kings based on the Giske family, which was of great importance to our country for many years before 1030 and just as many years after. Giske was a center of power, and this is a story the game will help convey, says Britt Giske Andersen.
