Hearing the Sea

Radio play for the shared listening of the youngest and their significant adults

There are many seas. But there is only one sea.

A single sea, full of secrets.

Each secret a song.

A song murmuring in the sea.

The children's radio play Hearing the Sea invites the youngest listeners to discover the mysteries woven in the sea waves, together with their parents, grandparents and all those enjoying the company of marine creatures, with whom we hear the murmuring song of the sea. Its peace, kept in harmony by the mythical Pharaonic Fish, is being disturbed by noise. Two dolphins, two friends, have lost one another, and they've been searching for each other ever since. Will they meet again?

The author and directress of the radio play for children Hearing the Sea, Saška Rakef, hopes that the song of the sea, found and sung together, can take us to a place where the noise quiets down and the fullness of life opens up: to a relationship of listening to one another, of wonder and respect. "(To) hear the other. To let ourselves travel from the noisy to the calm and mindful, to be in touch with ourselves, with our parents, with the sea creatures that are so similar to us and yet so different, all part of the same sea, the same great song of the world. It is fragile in its delicate details and the balance between the species, yet at the same time powerful in its destructive force which can carve living rock, but also creates! Life springs from the sea, all (human) life begins in (amniotic) fluid. The sea murmurs within us."

Murmur(ing).

In the mountain.

In the tree trunk.

In the earth.

A wave with a beginning.

And an ending.

An ebb and flow that is infinite.

The author of the original music, composer Bojana Šaljić Podešva, entrusted the musical performance in Hearing the Sea to the female voice, a safe anchor point for the child. "In register and timbre, the voice of soprano Rebeka Pregelj complements the voices of the actors. Singing lines are juxtaposed in a spatial polyphony, forming the sonority of the immense sea space. The story carries an archetypal energy, humming with the awe-inspiring antiquity of the sea. It also resonates in the old Slovenian chant about the Faronika, the ancient Pharaonic Fish. Thus, I approach music for young children in a spirit of universality. If I can use sound and music to speak to our deepest layers, those organically and inseparably binding us with nature, then this sonority is, surely, suitable for the little ones and their significant adults, with whom they listen and experience. Noises are also an important part of sonority. If properly articulated, they can likewise be appropriate or safe for the baby, who has been listening to noises even before birth – in its mother's body. The charm of noises lies in unlocking their sonic potential, the filigree beauty in their tiny modulations. These micro-events attract and fascinate the child and contribute to building and maintaining sensitivity."

Jožica Avbelj, drama actress, describes her role as the Moray in Hearing the Sea: "I was delighted, enthusiastic, excited. What a splendid idea! A warm-hearted project! Dispelling the noise with old wisdom known only to ancient, ancient Morays. They still tell the song of the stone that will drive away the noise, elevating all sea creatures."

Actor Brane Grubar, who lends his voice to the Jellyfish, was charmed by – silence. "This silence... the quiet of the sea, which is not entirely soundless. There is subtle music and narrative, so much happening within."

Hearing the Sea is a play designed with shared listening in mind, for the youngest and their significant adults. Sensory impressions sweep us away into an experience of jointly discovering the unknown, into a sonority where we are not alone, but walk and swim hand in hand. And it is this dedicated yet playful, unencumbered exploration and listening to the sonic, based on genuine contact with adults trusted by the baby, that can reveal to children the beauty of the unknown. It opens up meanings and points the way to swimming through life not only in a confident, but also an empathetic way. In the sea, every being matters and every movement leaves a visible, audible or felt imprint on someone, somewhere.

Collaborating in the creation of the radio play were also: Aleš Valič (narrator), Lena Hribar and Anja Novak (Garfish), Primož Pirnat (Moray), Lina Akif, Zvone Hribar and Blaž Šef (Seahorses), Jernej Gašperin (Crab), Vesna Jevnikar (Octopus), soprano Rebeka Pregelj, Asja Kahrimanović Babnik, Zala Ana Štiglic, Ana Hribar (voices in the sea). Musical ambience was co-created by sound designer Sonja Strenar, and its concept and performance was guided by her colleague, developmental psychologist Katarina Kompan Erzar, M.D.

The radio play for children Hearing the Sea was co-produced with the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre as part of the research project B-AIR: Sound Art for Babies, Toddlers and Vulnerable Groups, co-financed by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.

Hearing the Sea_text in English