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- Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2009 5:09 pm
Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:38 pm
For anyone in Cologne, Germany on September 17th, check out Dennis James' FILMHARMONIA DUO's debut performance of the new commissioned score to the restored complete WOMAN IN THE MOON 35mm print at the pipe organ equipped Cologne Philharmonie concert hall. The new Silent Film Concerts musical score provides a modern tribute to the historically authentic film scoring practice of all real-time (as opposed to pre-programmed, recorded or sequenced) performance incorporating both historic compilation elements (made up of period-published silent film music obtained from a variety of sources) joined together with segments featuring both newly composed elements and structured improvisations. Their unique musical texture conception underscores the fundamental struggle between the forces of Good and Evil by frequently assigning the pipe organ in opposition to electronic synthesis. Featured instruments in addition the Cologne Philharmonie's magnificent pipe organ are two celebrated electronic instruments: the Theremin (the pioneering electronic musical instrument invented in by physicist Lev Termen in the Soviet Union in 1919) and the Lightning (Electronic music inventor Don Buchla's wireless synthesis controller developed in the 1990's).
FILMHARMONIA
The various Filmharmonia ensembles regularly perform authentic musical accompaniments to classic silent films throughout the world on tour. Founded by New York-based silent film music scholar Dennis James, each ensemble showcases unusual historical musical instruments within traditional, period-recreation accompaniment scorings that authentically revive the silent film era's sounds and musical styles in performances that are both historically accurate and entertaining. Participating instrumentalists are selected for each performance from an association of professional musicians based throughout the country.
Unusual historical instruments, showcased together with the traditional acoustic piano or pipe organ, violin and cello, include the theremin, Stroh phonoviolin, Marxophone, autoharp, flexatone, cristal d' Baschet and other various acoustic sound effects in use during the 1920's in addition to a variety of modern electronic and acoustic devices. The ensemble collaborates with film archives around the world to present exquisitely beautiful prints of some of the early 20th century's greatest films to create multi-media experiences that revive silent films' extraordinary vitality and excitement.
"Silent movies could not talk, but there was nothing they couldn't do. The more you watch them, the more aware you become of the heady excitement the medium was able to inspire. Most of today's movies are made for the purpose of attracting audiences; many silent classics were made in the conviction they could inspire and even transform audiences."
The first Filmharmonia ensemble was formed in 1990 for THE AELIA PROJECT creating a historically-informed score for the Soviet futurist-fantasy silent film Aelita, Queen of Mars. The FILMHARMONIA score incorporates all of the surviving original score fragments combined with selections from period-published Soviet generic silent film music repertoire. The Aelita Project was especially designed to feature use of the pioneering 1919 Soviet electronic musical instrument invention, the theremin, in tribute to its most famous later role as a sound effect in science-fiction film music scoring. Most recentlyFILMHARMONIA Aelita program was selected in 2012 to open the new film theatre at the Walker Contemporary Art museum in Minneapolis.
FILMHARMONIA's “Man With a Movie Camera “ at the University of Chicago: " . . one of the must-see events of the Chicago movie year" - Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times
Quickly expanding their range of unusual instruments and historic source music, Filmharmonia accepted a commission in early 1996 to create a new historically informed score to the Soviet comedy The House on Trubnaya Square in celebration of U. C. Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive 25th anniversary (and presented most recently at the 2011 Telluride Film Festival). The critical acclaim for that score led to various commissions, including the critically hailed only accurate realization of director Dziga Vertov's own musical scoring notes for his The Man with a Movie Camera (premiered at Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive in 1996 and also most recently opening the complete Vertov Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC in 2011) plus organ & electronics duo scores for the newly restored Metropolis (premiered at the San Francisco Int'l Film Festival), Der Golem, Faust, Cabinet of Dr. Calamari and several others (presented most recently by the San Francisco Symphony in sellout screenings introducing Halloween silents programming to the prestigious venue).
Filmharmonia’s stylistic loyalty to the original filmmakers' visions at first seems as anachronistic as the reality of a performing musical ensemble providing a live soundtrack for modern-day audiences, especially one that supports the film rather than overpowering it, so typical in the modern Digital Sound reproduction era. Filmharmonia bridges the worlds of film appreciation, musical imagination and historical preservation to craft works of art - timeless creations that transcend any era.
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FILMHARMONIA
Tour Performance Sites
Louvre Museum, Paris, France
National Film Theatre, London, England
Palazzo Delle Espisozioni, Rome, Italy
Konzerthaus, Venna, Austria
Grosser Salle, Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria
Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Uptown Theatre, Calgary, Canada
Museum of Modern Art, New York City
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Los Angeles Country Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Copley Symphony Hall, San Diego, California
Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, California
Castro Theatre, San Francisco, California
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto, California
Cinequest International Film Festival/ California Theatre, San Jose, California
Telluride Film Festival, Colorado
Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Washington
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago, Illinois
Max Palevsky Cinema, University of Chicago, Illinois
Madison Civic Center, Madison, Wisconsin
Wexner Center for the Contemporary Arts, Columbus, Ohio
Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland, Ohio
High Museum, Atlanta, Georgia
Festival of World Cinema, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DENNIS JAMES | DIRECTOR
SILENT FILM CONCERTS and FILMHARMONIA
LECTURER, MASON GROSS SCHOOL OF ARTS, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
CRYSTAL CITY MUSIC | PO BOX 786 | CORNING, NY 14830 USA
PHONE 607-359-2622 (Toll Free- 855-326-4012) | E-MAIL MUSCUR@GMAIL.COM
On Facebook / Wikpedia Page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_James_(musician)
FILMHARMONIA
The various Filmharmonia ensembles regularly perform authentic musical accompaniments to classic silent films throughout the world on tour. Founded by New York-based silent film music scholar Dennis James, each ensemble showcases unusual historical musical instruments within traditional, period-recreation accompaniment scorings that authentically revive the silent film era's sounds and musical styles in performances that are both historically accurate and entertaining. Participating instrumentalists are selected for each performance from an association of professional musicians based throughout the country.
Unusual historical instruments, showcased together with the traditional acoustic piano or pipe organ, violin and cello, include the theremin, Stroh phonoviolin, Marxophone, autoharp, flexatone, cristal d' Baschet and other various acoustic sound effects in use during the 1920's in addition to a variety of modern electronic and acoustic devices. The ensemble collaborates with film archives around the world to present exquisitely beautiful prints of some of the early 20th century's greatest films to create multi-media experiences that revive silent films' extraordinary vitality and excitement.
"Silent movies could not talk, but there was nothing they couldn't do. The more you watch them, the more aware you become of the heady excitement the medium was able to inspire. Most of today's movies are made for the purpose of attracting audiences; many silent classics were made in the conviction they could inspire and even transform audiences."
The first Filmharmonia ensemble was formed in 1990 for THE AELIA PROJECT creating a historically-informed score for the Soviet futurist-fantasy silent film Aelita, Queen of Mars. The FILMHARMONIA score incorporates all of the surviving original score fragments combined with selections from period-published Soviet generic silent film music repertoire. The Aelita Project was especially designed to feature use of the pioneering 1919 Soviet electronic musical instrument invention, the theremin, in tribute to its most famous later role as a sound effect in science-fiction film music scoring. Most recentlyFILMHARMONIA Aelita program was selected in 2012 to open the new film theatre at the Walker Contemporary Art museum in Minneapolis.
FILMHARMONIA's “Man With a Movie Camera “ at the University of Chicago: " . . one of the must-see events of the Chicago movie year" - Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times
Quickly expanding their range of unusual instruments and historic source music, Filmharmonia accepted a commission in early 1996 to create a new historically informed score to the Soviet comedy The House on Trubnaya Square in celebration of U. C. Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive 25th anniversary (and presented most recently at the 2011 Telluride Film Festival). The critical acclaim for that score led to various commissions, including the critically hailed only accurate realization of director Dziga Vertov's own musical scoring notes for his The Man with a Movie Camera (premiered at Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive in 1996 and also most recently opening the complete Vertov Retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC in 2011) plus organ & electronics duo scores for the newly restored Metropolis (premiered at the San Francisco Int'l Film Festival), Der Golem, Faust, Cabinet of Dr. Calamari and several others (presented most recently by the San Francisco Symphony in sellout screenings introducing Halloween silents programming to the prestigious venue).
Filmharmonia’s stylistic loyalty to the original filmmakers' visions at first seems as anachronistic as the reality of a performing musical ensemble providing a live soundtrack for modern-day audiences, especially one that supports the film rather than overpowering it, so typical in the modern Digital Sound reproduction era. Filmharmonia bridges the worlds of film appreciation, musical imagination and historical preservation to craft works of art - timeless creations that transcend any era.
----------
FILMHARMONIA
Tour Performance Sites
Louvre Museum, Paris, France
National Film Theatre, London, England
Palazzo Delle Espisozioni, Rome, Italy
Konzerthaus, Venna, Austria
Grosser Salle, Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria
Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Uptown Theatre, Calgary, Canada
Museum of Modern Art, New York City
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Los Angeles Country Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California
Copley Symphony Hall, San Diego, California
Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, California
Castro Theatre, San Francisco, California
Stanford Theatre, Palo Alto, California
Cinequest International Film Festival/ California Theatre, San Jose, California
Telluride Film Festival, Colorado
Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Washington
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago, Illinois
Max Palevsky Cinema, University of Chicago, Illinois
Madison Civic Center, Madison, Wisconsin
Wexner Center for the Contemporary Arts, Columbus, Ohio
Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland, Ohio
High Museum, Atlanta, Georgia
Festival of World Cinema, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DENNIS JAMES | DIRECTOR
SILENT FILM CONCERTS and FILMHARMONIA
LECTURER, MASON GROSS SCHOOL OF ARTS, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
CRYSTAL CITY MUSIC | PO BOX 786 | CORNING, NY 14830 USA
PHONE 607-359-2622 (Toll Free- 855-326-4012) | E-MAIL MUSCUR@GMAIL.COM
On Facebook / Wikpedia Page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_James_(musician)
