Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra records score for Jiří Mádl’s new film – The Waves
The Waves (Vlny), a new feature film by Jiří Mádl set in the Czechoslovak Radio of the 1960s, will be released in Czech cinemas on 15 August 2024. The film’s score by composer Simon Goff will be recorded by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. The involvement of the Prague Radio’s musicians in the making of the film is symbolic, as the film tells the story of Czechoslovak Radio and its brave journalists during the Warsaw Pact’s invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.
“Working with the orchestra was absolutely fantastic, and the same goes for the conductor, Michaela Rózsa Růžičková. It was a pleasure to record the score with such talented musicians,” said composer Simon Goff. He also incorporated period Czechoslovak music of the 1960s into the film’s soundtrack. “It’s just great. I listened to it a lot while working on the score and it broadened my horizons quite a bit,” added the composer. Simon Goff also liked the acoustic qualities of Prague Radio’s Studio 1 in Prague, where the orchestra is based. “The music truly resonates here. It is an honour for me that we are recording the score for the film in this place,” he said of the venue.
The story itself was inspiring and helped him greatly in composing the score. “I chose the music to enhance the story, to emphasise the drama. The music should follow each individual character and specific moments in the story. At some moments it should be isolated, subtle and sensitive, at others the opposite, depending on what is happening on the screen,” explained Simon Goff.
Jiří Mádl’s film reveals previously unknown events in the history of Czechoslovak Radio. Vojtěch Vodochodský was cast as the main character, whose younger brother is played by Ondřej Slupka. The Waves is coming to Czech cinemas this summer on 15 August 2024.
