SVT's Bold Move: Reviving 'Vi på Saltkråkan' with a Modernist Twist

When SVT undertakes a new production of 'Vi på Saltkråkan', Peter Nordahl is responsible for the music. Jonas Valfridsson is pleasantly surprised that the modernist framework remains intact.

COMMENTARY. In the late 1990s, I composed a small woodwind quintet that premiered in Visby. The feedback from those closest to me was kind and encouraging, but one of the older students simply commented, 'Uncle Melker!'. I was upset, sensitive as I was, and thought she meant my music sounded old-fashioned and confused. It was only years later that I realized she was referring to the music in 'Vi på Saltkråkan', which was, of course, both a fine and apt description for someone who wanted to change tempo and key every other second.

For many Swedes, 'Vi på Saltkråkan' is a given entry point and reference for how modern contemporary music sounds. If you happen not to know, quickly Google 'SVT' and 'Saltkråkan' and fast forward to the end credits of the first episode on Öppet arkiv. What can one say? The 1960s were something else—artistically wild and experimental. Even children were to partake in the artistic avant-garde's musical achievements, which feels foreign today when the ideal for children's music is simple songs or pure musical banalities.

The music, written by Ulf Björlin (1933–1991), did not have that attitude. 'I don't know what people want, but I know what I want to give,' he is said to have remarked.

Axel Englund wonders who can take on that role now that 'Vi på Saltkråkan' is being re-recorded. The choice fell on Peter Nordahl, best known to me for his luxurious orchestral arrangements of Ted Gärdestad's and Sven-Bertil Taube's music. Certainly very Swedish, but more akin to how the skerries sounded in the 1990s in 'Skärgårdsdoktorn'. I had hoped for more jerky modernism, I sulked and sneaked in to eavesdrop when the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra recorded the new soundtrack.

I understand that you choke on your mustard herring and plan riots.

It turns out I arrive just in time to hear the re-recording of Björlin's title melody, which starts stratospherically high in piccolo and develops into a small canon with oboe and fresh violins. In Nordahl's orchestration, it feels crisp and refreshing like a well-chilled Riesling on the salty cliffs.

It becomes so clear how today's Philharmonic can play both atonally and rhythmically complex with a completely different ease than in the 1960s. Another new thematic motif could have been the beginning of a flute sonata by Poulenc or Martinů, and after listening to some refined orchestrated excerpts later, I feel confident that this will be good. What a wonderfully brave choice by SVT to retain Saltkråkan's modernist framework, and bravo to Nordahl for mastering the style.

The song 'Nu är våren kommen' will not be included in the new recording. I understand that you choke on your mustard herring and plan riots, but you can sing it to your children instead. It is based on a French dance game from the 1700s, perhaps Björlin was drawn to it because of the embedded five-four time in the middle.

Jonas Valfridsson is a composer and music writer for Expressen's culture page.