The Soundtrack of “Reminiscencia”: A Nostalgia That Looks Back with Affection
Reminiscencia is a film directed by Silvia Collantes, born from an emotion that is as simple as it is universal: that moment when we realize that childhood, although it remains in our memory, has already become part of the past. It is a story about two sisters, shared memories, and the inevitable feeling that growing up also means learning to let go. To accompany this emotional journey, the soundtrack embraces a minimalist and delicate approach, built around piano and strings.
The story follows Violeta, who learns that her younger sister, Olivia, is getting married. As the two sisters embark on the wedding preparations, Violeta begins to confront a reality that may have remained hidden among her memories until then: the childhood they shared is over. Olivia is no longer the little girl who grew up by her side and, little by little, the two sisters begin to take different paths.
It is precisely this moment of transition that lies at the heart of Reminiscencia. The short film does not approach nostalgia through sadness, but through affection for everything that has been lived. Looking back is rooted in love, joy, and the awareness of having shared a fundamental part of life with someone.
And this is where the music takes on a particularly important role.
A Soundtrack Built on Simplicity
The music for Reminiscencia starts from a very clear premise: to support the emotion without overpowering it. The story is largely built through glances, silences, pauses, and the small gestures that emerge between two sisters who have spent their entire lives sharing experiences. These are moments that do not need much explanation. The relationship between Violeta and Olivia exists in what is implied—in a smile, in a glance that lasts a little longer than usual, or in a silence that says more than any dialogue ever could.
The score is built primarily around piano and strings, with a minimalist, intimate, and restrained approach. Very few elements are needed to create the emotional landscape the story requires, always leaving room for the image and the performances to breathe. The piano occupies a particularly intimate place within the score. Its sound makes it possible to work from a deeply personal perspective, almost as if we were stepping directly into Violeta’s inner world.
The strings, meanwhile, expand that emotional space and allow certain moments to grow without losing the delicacy that defines the score as a whole.
The result is music that may appear simple on the surface, but has been carefully crafted to accompany every subtle movement of the story.
Nostalgia Without Sadness
One of the fundamental concepts behind the soundtrack was precisely nostalgia. But not nostalgia understood as sadness or as a desire to recover something that no longer exists. In Reminiscencia, remembering is also a way of celebrating. The music seeks to convey the feeling of looking back with affection.
There is inevitably some melancholy, because growing up means accepting that certain chapters come to an end. But there is also warmth and joy in remembering everything that has been shared. Finding that balance was one of the most important elements of the film’s musical language.
The piano and strings allow the score to constantly move between these two worlds: between intimacy and emotion, between melancholy and light. The music does not seek to turn every memory into a sad moment, but rather to capture that bittersweet feeling that emerges when we become aware of how quickly time has passed.
In this sense, the music accompanies a very specific idea: we can miss a chapter of our lives while still feeling happy that we were able to live it.
Turning Memories into Sound
Ultimately, the music of Reminiscencia emerges from a story about growing, changing, and accepting that the people we love also have to build their own paths.
The piano and strings become the main tools for exploring this emotional territory, creating a score that is minimalist, gentle, intimate, and deeply connected to memory.
It is music that does not seek to portray nostalgia through sadness, but through love for everything we have experienced. Music that understands memory as something alive and constantly changing, and that finds in the smallest details a way to accompany a story that is both deeply personal and universally relatable.
Because there are moments when growing up means leaving part of our lives behind, while also discovering that those moments remain with us in another form.
And perhaps that is where the music finds its place in Reminiscencia: in that space between what has already happened and what we are still able to remember.
