‘I want to get as close as possible to the music with my visual language’

How would you describe Symphonic Cinema?

Van Woerkum: ‘As a way of translating masterpieces from classical orchestral music into a drama film. Many compositions are based on a story, such as a fairy tale or a myth. I have for example the firebird from Stravinsky and Daphnis et Chloe van Ravel made into a film, with actors such as Hannah Hoekstra and Gijs Scholten van Aschat.’

How do you work?

‘First I check whether a score can be made into a film. I won’t be doing a Beethoven symphony any time soon, the structure of that music lends itself poorly to the tension of a film. But the firebird and Daphnis et Chloe Both are originally ballet music. I replace one visual component with another.

‘I always start by making a ‘visual score’: a timeline with key musical moments. Then I think about what I want to add to the original story. the firebird is a Russian fairy tale that you can tell in a few sentences, much too little for an hour of film. I often interweave a personal fascination through the script. That’s how it goes the firebird about family ties. I asked myself the question: what happens when someone leaves a family? How then do the laggards react?’

How personal is that fascination?

‘I once lost a favorite uncle. For my first film I chose a symphonic poem by Sergei Rachmaninov in 2011, Isle of the Dead† My most recent movie, The Echo of Beingwith music by Mahler, is about the road to the afterlife.’

Symphonic Cinema invariably includes a live orchestra. That makes the synchronization between music and images difficult. What if a conductor goes faster or slower?

‘With software I can time every shot in the highest image quality to the millisecond. With my touchscreen I sit in the middle of the orchestra, like a musician who responds to the conductor. If necessary, I speed up or slow down the image, without the public noticing.’

You will be touring with the New European Ensemble. That is not a large orchestra but a small group.

‘For Symphonic Cinema it consists of fifteen musicians. Of course the music had to be edited for that line-up. Thomas Beijer has done just that, the pianist who recently won the Dutch Music Prize, but who also arranges wonderfully. We went through scene by scene. For example with a close-up of Chloé: does an oboe sound fit here, or rather a clarinet?’

Dream world, fin-de-siècle, Freud: a late romantic spirit blows through your films.

‘I sometimes blame the French horn, a romantic instrument I’ve been playing since I was 7 years old. But it is above all a conscious choice: I want to get as close as possible to the music, not necessarily have the notes contrast with a contemporary visual language. This sometimes leads to criticism from the professional world. Can’t it be more modern, I was told by the Netherlands Film Fund. But I notice that I use it to help young people cross the threshold. They often have a dormant interest in classical music, but will not make the trip to the concert hall any time soon. They find it exciting with a film.’

What else is in the pipeline?

‘Including a movie around The Planets by the English composer Gustav Holst, with the star actress Emma Thompson. In 2020 she attended the premiere of my Mahler film. Then she spoke the immortal words: ‘I will always be available to you.’ The next day I went straight to lunch with her. I wanted to make sure the champagne hadn’t gone to her head.’