Music for silent movies
Silent movies
In middle of 90' , I read a book about the life & art of F. W. Murnau : " 8 Uhr Abendblatt " 1931.
I was very struck by an interview with the director about sounds in the movies .
Murnau said " It is too early for making audio movies ; we have just started to explore the great possibilities that give us the silent movies and now (1927) we are obliged to change our way of working for the words!".
So I wondered how could be the cinema if no one has invented spoken movies , but with a normal evolution of musical history.
So what happen if I see a silent movie with experimental or electronic music for soundtracks ?
And I try to experiment this mix .
Belfagor Orchestra
2004
12 hours concert Halloween night to morning , from 8 pm to 8 am , with a live soundtrack of :
Belfagor by Henri Desfontaines ( 1927 )
Satan se divierte S. de Chomon ( 1907 )
In your Eyes Roberto Musci ( 2003 )
Betty Boop & Bimbo ( 1932 )
Le squelette joyeux Lumiere ( 1895-6 )
Josh's nightmare - E. S. Porter ( 1900 ) ,
Ghosts - Roberto Musci ( 2004 )
Le Cake-walk infernal G. Mellies ( 1903 )
Haunted house ( 1929 )
Le monstre G. Mellies (1903 )
Belfagor Orchestra : Elliot Sharp , Steve Piccolo , Gak Sato, Walter Prati , Matteo Pennese , Claudio Gabbiani , Massimo Falascone , Daniele Cavallanti , Tiziano Tononi , Matteo Saltalamacchia , Diego Ruvidotti , Massimo Mariani , Claudio Chianura and Roberto Musci .
Live movie soundtrack concert for the festival "Musichevolissimevolmente"
Cinema/Teatro Gnomo Milano , Italy
The sound of the mountain
2002
" Il suono della montagna "
Live movie soundtrack concert for the festival "Senza Parole " in Monticello Brianza , with :
Claudio Gabbiani : guitar
Roberto Musci : sampler , percussion
Life in the high mountains and battles during the First World War
The extraordinary adventures of Saturnino Farandola
2001
" Le avventure straordinarissime di Saturnino Farandola' " by Marcel Fabre , 1913
Live movie soundtrack concert for the festival "Senza Parole " at Palazzina Liberty , with :
Keith Tippett : piano
Claudio Gabbiani : guitar
Roberto Musci : sampler , percussion
The funny and absurd adventures Africa and Asia of an unlikely explorer.
Live at Palazzina liberty , Milano Italy
The crowd
2000
" The crowd " directed by King Vidor 1928
Live movie soundtrack concert at Palazzina Liberty for the festival "Senza Parole " , with :
Claudio Gabbiani : guitar
Roberto Musci : sampler , percussion.
It is the story of an ordinary individual who wants to emerge from the crowd and does not realize that his experiences do nothing but follow consolidated clichés.
At Palazzina Liberty , Milano , Italy
Manhatta
1999
"Manhatta " 1928 , directed by Joris Ivens
Live movie soundtrack concert at Palazzina Liberty for the festival "Senza Parole " , with :
ChrisCutler : drums & percussion
Jon Rose : violin
Claudio Gabbiani : guitar
Roberto Musci : sampler , percussion
A Dutch documentary film on Manhattan , N.Y. .
Music recorded by Recommended Records for cd " Steelwater light "
Regen
1999
" Regen " 1929 , directed by Joris Ivens and Mannus Franken .
Live movie soundtrack concert at Palazzina Liberty for the festival "Senza Parole " , with :
ChrisCutler : drums & percussion
Jon Rose : violin
Claudio Gabbiani : guitar
Roberto Musci : sampler , percussion
The film is about a normal rainy day in Amsterdam, with the first drops of rain on the canals and streets of the city.
Music recorded by Recommended Records for cd " Steelwater light "
The bridge
1999
" The bridge " 1928 , directed by Joris Ivens
Live movie soundtrack concert at Palazzina Liberty for the festival "Senza Parole " , with :
ChrisCutler : drums & percussion
Jon Rose : violin
Claudio Gabbiani : guitar
Roberto Musci : sampler , percussion
The film explores the then-newly constructed Rotterdam vertical-lift railroad bridge: its structure, mechanisms, complex actions, and the steam-powered trains and ships making use of it.
Live movie soundtrack concert at Palazzina Liberty" Milan
Music recorded by Recommended Records for cd " Steelwater light "
Vampyr and other stories
1998
Vampyr ( Der Traum des Allan Gray ) is a 1932 horror movie directed by Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer.
The film was written by Dreyer and Christen Jul based on elements from J. Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 collection of supernatural stories titled "In a Glass Darkly".
Live movie soundtrack concert at Palazzina Liberty" Milan , with :
ChrisCutler : drums & percussion
Giovanni venosta : piano , synth
Roberto Musci : sampler , percussion , flute
Music recorded by Recommended Records for cd " Vampyr and other stories " to celebrate their 30 years of collaboration,.
In this edition collects their first and last works, the songs lost when the two LPs were reissued on a single CD, and the entire live score was performed, with Chris Cutler, to accompany Theodore Carl Dreyer's Vampyr
Der Golem
Visna Mahedi Ensamble
1998
" Der Golem " is a 1920 horror movie directed by Paul Wegener and Henrik Galeen
Live concert at "Time zone festival " Bari, Italy, with :
Visna Mahedi Ensamble :
Claudio Gabbiani : guitar
Giorgio Magnanensi : guitar , electronics
Roberto Zanisi : percussion
Silvia Mandolini ,: violin
Marco Ruggeri ; voice
Roberto Musci : sampler , guitar
The story of the Golem, a monster created in a jewish ghetto in Prague.
Live concert at "Time zone festival " Bari, Italy recorded by Lowland records for cd " Unintentional beauty "
Phamtom of the Opera
1997
"Phantom of the Opera " by Rupert Julian 1925
Live concert for the festival "Senza Parole " with :
Claudio Gabbiani : guitar
Massiomo Cavallaro : sax , synth
Roberto Musci : sampler , percussion
The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.
Live movie soundtrack concert at Arena in the Brescia Castle
Safety Last
1996
" Safety Last " by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor , 1923.
Live concert for for the festival "Senza Parole " in " Palazzina Liberty " Milan 1996 , with:
ClaudioGabbiani: guitar
Massimo Cavallaro : sax
Piero Guerrera : drums
Roberto Musci : sampler
The bewildered adventures of a man who tries to survive the adversities of life
Live movie soundtrack concert at Palazzina Liberty Milano