The Sounds of Early Cinema in Britain
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal Holloway University of London
Department Name: Music
Abstract
The Sounds of Early Cinema in Britain Network will provide a mechanism for consolidating research and practical activity on sonic and musical practices in the exhibition of early and 'silent' cinema in Britain, and across the variety of traditions considered forerunners to early cinema, through to the transition to synchronized sound in the late 1920s, as well as its adjunct, non-synchronised role into the 1950s and beyond. The first decades of film exhibition in the UK were characterized by flux and experimentation. This is true of the technologies under development and the location in which exhibitions/performances took place, which included churches, music halls, fairgrounds, theatres and, later, purpose-built venues. Musical and sonic practices were often improvisatory. The consumption of film was also more heterogeneous during this period. Elements of performativity and contingency continued well into the sound era given that in many cinemas live musical performance long remained a key part of film exhibition.
Although colleagues in other countries, notably the United States, have begun to excavate this history, in the United Kingdom this history remains largely buried but for a handful of otherwise excellent publications. This Network seeks not only to provide a scholarly rallying point for relevant research in the UK, but to contribute towards a new understanding and appreciation of the performative dimension of film exhibition. It will consider not only historically conscious perspectives but also contemporary practices: silent films are now often re-imagined by live performers in contemporary styles, in what might be described as a post-modern appropriation of film's historically performative mode. Understanding early film's sonic and performative dimensions thus remains a vital part of contemporary British musico-cinematic practice.
The Network seeks to foster understanding of both historical and (post)modern accompanying trends and to influence future strategy in major exhibition spaces by involving not only individual researchers and performers, but also pre-eminent venues and festivals that feature silent and early film screenings: Nottingham Silent Film Festival and London's Barbican Centre. The Network also seeks to foster an appreciation of the material heritage of music's role in early film exhibition in the UK by involving members of organisations such as the Cinema Organ Society and the British Film Institute. The potential interactions between those in the academy and a broad spectrum of policy-makers, practitioners and other stakeholders will be of unprecedented significance and value.
Our application for an international research network in this field is distinguished by its prioritisation of three key elements:
- bringing together individuals researching the wide variety of cultural practices involving some form of projected images prior to the development and adoption of synchronized sound in the late 1920s in order to assess the role of music and/or sound in these practices.
- bringing together individuals whose work in relation to these materials includes (but is not limited to) scholarly research, historically-informed performance practice (i.e. performing/restoring existent scores, and/or improvising), the development of new performing traditions for these materials, archivists, curators, and restorers, and the many enthusiasts and collectors who undertake research outside of the academy. Here, 'materials' may include the films, scores, instruments/equipment, and forms of documentation of the industry or of the experience of film exhibition.
- bringing to the UK a select body of key individuals whose work has provided a full and rich picture of the US situation in this period, to share their knowledge and expertise and to assist members of the network to foster the further development of research in music and sound practices in film exhibition during this period in the UK.
Although colleagues in other countries, notably the United States, have begun to excavate this history, in the United Kingdom this history remains largely buried but for a handful of otherwise excellent publications. This Network seeks not only to provide a scholarly rallying point for relevant research in the UK, but to contribute towards a new understanding and appreciation of the performative dimension of film exhibition. It will consider not only historically conscious perspectives but also contemporary practices: silent films are now often re-imagined by live performers in contemporary styles, in what might be described as a post-modern appropriation of film's historically performative mode. Understanding early film's sonic and performative dimensions thus remains a vital part of contemporary British musico-cinematic practice.
The Network seeks to foster understanding of both historical and (post)modern accompanying trends and to influence future strategy in major exhibition spaces by involving not only individual researchers and performers, but also pre-eminent venues and festivals that feature silent and early film screenings: Nottingham Silent Film Festival and London's Barbican Centre. The Network also seeks to foster an appreciation of the material heritage of music's role in early film exhibition in the UK by involving members of organisations such as the Cinema Organ Society and the British Film Institute. The potential interactions between those in the academy and a broad spectrum of policy-makers, practitioners and other stakeholders will be of unprecedented significance and value.
Our application for an international research network in this field is distinguished by its prioritisation of three key elements:
- bringing together individuals researching the wide variety of cultural practices involving some form of projected images prior to the development and adoption of synchronized sound in the late 1920s in order to assess the role of music and/or sound in these practices.
- bringing together individuals whose work in relation to these materials includes (but is not limited to) scholarly research, historically-informed performance practice (i.e. performing/restoring existent scores, and/or improvising), the development of new performing traditions for these materials, archivists, curators, and restorers, and the many enthusiasts and collectors who undertake research outside of the academy. Here, 'materials' may include the films, scores, instruments/equipment, and forms of documentation of the industry or of the experience of film exhibition.
- bringing to the UK a select body of key individuals whose work has provided a full and rich picture of the US situation in this period, to share their knowledge and expertise and to assist members of the network to foster the further development of research in music and sound practices in film exhibition during this period in the UK.
Publications
Julie Brown
(2012)
The Sounds of the Silents in Britain
Brown J
(2012)
The Sounds of the Silents in Britain
Davison A
(2012)
The Sounds of the Silents in Britain
| Title | Historically informed performance of score to screening of Maurice Elvey's The Flag Lieutenant (1926) |
| Description | Dr Phil Carli, the distinguished silent film music historian and conductor, was invited to reconstruct Albert Cazebon's compiled score for Maurice Elvey's The Flag Lieutenant (1926). Carli arranged the work for trio: pianist, violinist, and percussionist (as trap drummer); the size of ensemble that would have played in a large second-class picture house of the period. Carli performed on piano, with Gunter Buchwald on violin, and Paul Clarvis on percussion. The band had two rehearsals. Carli introduced the score prior to the film, explaining its historical context and the pragmatic issues involved in arranging the music for performance with the film. The performance took place on a Monday evening (hence the smaller audience size for this event), and was met with rapturous applause and a standing ovation. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2009 |
| Impact | This event enabled a 21st century audience to experience the type of performance to screen that an audience in a large second-class cinema of the mid-1920 could have expected. Perhaps the most important impact was the demonstration that the live score performance significantly improved one's experience of the film. |
| Title | Historically-informed performance of Louis Silvers' and Wm. Peters' original score for D.W.Griffith's Way Down East (1920) |
| Description | Gillian Anderson, eminent Silent Film Conductor and Historian, was involved in both of our conferences and in a linked event to the first conducted a performance of the original 'special score' to D. W. Griffiths' Way Down East at the Barbican Cinema, London. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2009 |
| Impact | Anderson's performance, and her explanatory post-performance interview with Professor Ian Christie, afforded the Barbican Cinema audience (which included the audience of the British Silent FIlm Festival) insights into the historical practice of accompanying silent film. Managing the preparations and rehearsal arrangements also gave the PI and CoI very clear insight into what was at stake in these sorts of live silent filmresynchronisations. |
| Title | Historically-informed performance of original presentation of Cecil Hepworth's Comin' Thro' the Rye (1923) |
| Description | This film was screened to the public, with live improvised piano accompaniment plus a live dramatic prologue, as the culmination of a day of workshops in silent film performance. This workshop which included a close focus on this particular film, and involved explorations of how a drama troupe might realise a performance of the original live prologue. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2010 |
| Impact | A number of professional practitioners were involved in this workshop and performance and had their perspectives on live silent film performance practice influenced as a result. Anaudience involving about 100 members of the general public likewise experienced this now lost theatrical tradition. |
| Title | Historically-informed reimagining of original music for Herbert Wilcox's Decameron Nights (1924) |
| Description | Giuseppe Becce's score for the film 'Decameron Nights' (1924) has not survived. Silent film pianist and historian Dr Phil Carli re-imagined a score for the film for solo piano using a selection of numbers that survive from Hermann Finck's music for the enormously successful stage production of the same name presented two years earlier. Carli introduced the score and the film's genesis and context prior to the screening. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2011 |
| Impact | For the audience of the British Silent Film Festival at the Barbican Cinema, London, this performance shed light on the ephemerality of original silent film scores, while also animating a little known British silent film. |
| Title | Live recreation of Frederick Laurence's original score to Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky's Morozko (Father Frost) (1924) |
| Description | Philip Ellis (Birmingham Royal Ballet) conducted Julie Brown's reconstruction of Frederick Laurence's original 1925 score to Morozko at the Barbican Cinema, London, as part of the Beyond Text Network event. This was a sell-out performance, whose audience also included the audience of the British Silent FIlm Festival. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2011 |
| Impact | The performance itself, and post-concert Q and A, illuminated the only fully original silent film score by a British composer that we know of. It is the only performance since 1925 that we know of. Philip Ellis was open during the Q and A about how much he learned as a conductor. Though he is a highly experienced ballet conductor, this was his first foray into conducting to silent film, and he was able to shed considerable light on the process of preparing such a performance, and above all about the similarities and differences between conducting live to film, and conducting ballet. |
| Title | Sound of the Silents, Cameo Cinema |
| Description | An evening of curated silent film which showcased a variety of sonic practices performed to screen: live lecturing/speaking to the picture, live sound effects, other historically-informed performance practices, and contemporary composition. The live sound effects were performed by five of the MSc Sound Design students (University of Edinburgh) - the culmination of a 2 day master-class workshop with the Emmy-nominated foley artist and recordist, Caoimhe Doyle and Jean McGrath, which was a key component of the workshop that preceded the screenings. Mervyn Heard, past-President of the Magic Lantern Society, served as lecturer and master of ceremonies for the evening. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2009 |
| Impact | As Stephen Bottomore noted of the Cameo Cinema performance that followed the workshop in Edinburgh, 'I really think the audience loved the event... [I]t proved that modern showings of silent films can be accompanied effectively by both a lecturer... and by sound effects.' Access to this Picture Palace (dating from January 1914) enabled Network members and the general public to experience a program of early films using historically-informed live sonic practices in an architecturally appropriate venue. |
| Title | The Sounds of the Silents: showcase of sonic practices for silent cinema |
| Description | An evening performance showcasing a variety of silent film sonic practice, incluing live lecturing/speaking to the picture, live sound effects, and other historically-informed performance practices. All this took place at the Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, a Picture Palace (dating from January 1914), which enabled Network members and the general public to attend. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2009 |
| Impact | A number of professional practitioners were involved in this workshop and performance and had their perspectives on live silent film performance practice influenced as a result. An audience involving about 100 members of the general public likewise experienced these now lost theatrical tradition. |
| Description | We brought together individuals whose work in relation to these materials includes (but is not limited to) scholarly research, historically-informed performance practice, the development of new performing traditions for these materials, archivists, curators, restorers, and the many enthusiasts and collectors who undertake research outside of the academy. Here 'materials' include the films, scores, instruments/equipment, and various forms of written documentation of the industry or of the experience of film exhibition. Within months of starting the Network, the PI uncovered a number of British scores that were not previously known to have survived. One of these was recreated within the lifespan of the network. One other was recreated a couple of years later, and subsequently recorded for a DVD restoration of the original film print, and published by the British Film Institute. We did not anticipate just how much we would learn from the experience: insights into the many practical contingencies facing a conductor of original scores, as well as into a films' original reception, for example. Additionally, the opportunity to trial different approaches to screen accompaniment at the two workshops, using expert practitioners, revealed types of embodied and performance-based knowledge to which we would otherwise have had limited, if any, access. At the first workshop we explored speaking to/lecturing to the screen, performing sound effects live, as well as the difficulties of constructing a history of these practices from surviving documents. We also explored practices prior to attempts to systematize accompaniment, such as accompaniment by song title, using 'random' music, and playing for laughs/'film funning', and compared these with early 'methods', such as the 'Phototune', and using collections of photoplay ('mood') music. We also attempted to reimagine in practice the original live stage prologue (to Cecil Hepworth's 1923 film, 'Comin' Thro' the Rye'), which involved not only trialling particular acting and musical performance solutions, but grappling with the sketchy nature of surviving accounts of the prologue. An important edited volume was also produced as a result of this network, and has been widely and extremely positively reviewed. |
| Exploitation Route | Silent Film Festivals and other exhibition venues for silent film might pay greater attention to the wide range of historical performance modes for silent film in order to expand their offerings from the default single improvising pianist. They might take forward the knowledge that university Music Departments may contain a great deal of expertise and performer willingness to stage such performances, even if the film archives and exhibition venues themselves face funding pressures. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | The findings of this Research Network have been used in live silent film performances, both during the life of the grant (eg. at the Barbican Cinema, London in conjunction with the 2011 British Silent Film Festival), and for a further silent film score reconstruction since then, in a live performance in Cambridge in November 2013, and the subsequent recording of that score in order to be included on a DVD published by the British Film Institute (The Epic of Everest, original score compiled by Eugene Goossens, Snr and Frederick Laurence). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Barbican Cinema, Barbican Centre, City of London, UK |
| Organisation | Barbican Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Our first conference opened in the Barbican Cinema's usual Sunday 'Silent Film with Live Music' slot with the performance of a silent film score reconstruction by U.S. silent film conductor Gillian Anderson. Prof. Ian Christie then chaired a Q&A with the conductor for the Barbican audience. A further linked screening took place the following night, after a day of conference papers. In April 2011 a full day of the conference and two performances were again held at the Barbican, including a screening with reconstructed score of 'Morozco', one of the scores uncovered by the PI during her research. The network supported this collaboration by a) curating the screenings along with the selected musicians, b) assisting the BFI in locating prints, c) fixing musicians for the performances, and d) funding the cost of the performances by paying the musicians. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We negotiated an arrangement whereby we had use of the cinema for each of the conference/screening, with tickets for the events offered to network members. The Barbican also supplied local technical and administrative support, and use of rehearsal spaces and equipment. Collaboration gave us use of a high profile venue closely associated with silent film and live performance, thereby reaching a non-academic audience. |
| Impact | The key outputs from this collaboration were the following: - Screening of D. W. Griffiths' film "Way Down East" (1920), with an 11-piece ensemble conducted by Gillian Anderson in her reconstruction of the original score. The screening was introduced by Prof. David Mayer (Manchester), and was followed by a Q and A with Gillian Anderson chaired by Prof. Ian Christie (Birkbeck). - Screening of Herbert Wilcox's film "Decameron Nights" (1924), with a re-imagined score created and performed by Dr Phil Carli (Eastman House) from a selection of numbers that survive from Hermann Finck's music for the enormously successful stage production of the same name. Dr Carli introduced the score and film's genesis and context prior to the screening. -Screening of Maurice Elvey's "The Flag Lieutenant" (1926) with a reconstruction of Albert Cazebon's compiled score, arranged by Dr Carli for trio: pianist, violinist, and percussionist (as trap drummer); the size of ensemble that would have played in a large second-class picture house of the period. Carli performed on piano, with Gunter Buchwald on violin, and Paul Clarvis on percussion. - Screening of Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky's "Morozko" (Father Frost) (1924), with two Cinderella shorts: Pathe, 1907, and Lotte Reininger, 1922. The score for 'Morozko' by Frederick Laurence was re-discovered by the PI, who also recreated it for performance. The score was performed by a 6-piece ensemble, conducted by Philip Ellis. The performance was followed with a Q and A chaired by the Co-I. The Cinderella shorts were accompanied by Dr Philip Carli. - Roundtable discussion - open to the public - concerned with different practices of ensemble composition and improvisation to "silent" films. The panel included Rick Altman, Gillian Anderson, Neil Brand, Minima, and Paul Robinson (Harmonie Band). The session was chaired by Dr Miguel Mera, and also included a Q and A with the audience. |
| Start Year | 2009 |
| Description | British Silent Film Festival |
| Organisation | British Film Institute (BFI) |
| Department | British Silent Film Festival |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | When we began our interaction with the annual BSFF, its relationship with the Broadway Cinema in Nottingham had ended. The Festival made a temporary move to London's Barbican Cinema for the years we held our conferences (2009 and 2011), so we were able to schedule our own event alongside it. We were also able to develop collaborations with musicians already at the festival, and facilitate a fruitful roundtable discussion between professional silent film performers using different approaches, all in front of a mixed festival and conference audience. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our collaboration with the British Silent Film Festival meant that we were introduced to independent researchers, collectors and local historians, who participate in that Festival. Their input enhanced our own conferences significantly. A key benefit of this association was that we were able to bring performances of several historical film score reconstructions, funded by the project, to large, mixed audiences. In addition, we were able to offer international network members a conference that followed on from a specialist curated silent film festival. We co-curated some of our film selections with BSFF, who also obtained the prints for some of these co-curated screenings. |
| Impact | The key outputs from this collaboration were the following: - Screening of D. W. Griffiths' film Way Down East (1920), with an 11-piece ensemble conducted by Gillian Anderson in her reconstruction of the original score. The screening was introduced by Prof. David Mayer (Manchester), and was followed by a Q and A with Gillian Anderson chaired by Prof. Ian Christie (Birkbeck). - Screening of Herbert Wilcox's film & Decameron Nights (1924), with a re-imagined score created and performed by Dr Phil Carli (Eastman House) from a selection of numbers that survive from Hermann Finck's music for the enormously successful stage production of the same name. Dr Carli introduced the score and film's genesis and context prior to the screening. -Screening of Maurice Elvey's "The Flag Lieutenant" (1926) with a reconstruction of Albert Cazebon's compiled score, arranged by Dr Carli for trio: pianist, violinist, and percussionist (as trap drummer); the size of ensemble that would have played in a large second-class picture house of the period. Carli performed on piano, with Gunter Buchwald on violin, and Paul Clarvis on percussion. - Screening of Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky's Morozko (Father Frost) (1924), with two Cinderella shorts: Pathe, 1907, and Lotte Reininger, 1922. The score for 'Morozko' by Frederick Laurence was re-discovered by the PI, who also recreated it for performance. The score was performed by a 6-piece ensemble, conducted by Philip Ellis. The performance was followed with a Q and A chaired by the Co-I. The Cinderella shorts were accompanied by Dr Philip Carli. - Roundtable discussion - open to the public - concerned with different practices of ensemble composition and improvisation to silent films. The panel included Rick Altman, Gillian Anderson, Neil Brand, Minima, and Paul Robinson (Harmonie Band). The session was chaired by Dr Miguel Mera, and also included a Q and A with the audience. |
| Start Year | 2009 |
| Description | Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh |
| Organisation | The Cameo |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | We co-curated an evening of silent cinema involving a variety of sonic practices: live lecturing/speaking to the picture, live sound effects, other historically-informed performance practices, and contemporary composition. The Co-I co-curated the films alongside Bryony Dixon (BFI) and Janet McBain (Scottish Screen Archive), and organised the supply of prints to the cinema. We provided the performers, which included organising the hire and delivery of a significant amount of audio and other equipment to the cinema. Access to this Picture Palace (dating from January 1914) enabled Network members and the general public to experience a program of early films using historically-informed live sonic practices in an architecturally appropriate venue. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We negotiated an arrangement whereby the Cameo Cinema would take box office receipts from the general public in lieu of a hire charge. |
| Impact | 'Sound of the Silents' curated evening of silent films at the Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh (October 2009) |
| Start Year | 2009 |