Music and the Resurfacing of Silent Film: A General Introduction

Abstract

It has become an often-repeated maxim that silent films were not usually silent and that there was habitually some sort of musical/sound accompaniment for them, ranging from the basic (an out-of-tune piano with a limited improvising player) to the elaborate (a large orchestra playing a specially written score). In recent years, there has been something of an explosion in the performance of live music to silent films. Whereas even a decade ago, a silent film with live music was a very occasional treat, these days one does not have to go too far afield to find such events.¹ They appear to offer a unique experience that is qualitatively different from synchronized sound film screenings. This also allows scope for musicians, who are able to improvise and experiment, to write music in a certain idiom, to take the opportunities offered by moving away from the centre of the stage or historically reconstruct the music that would have been heard at the time of the film’s release. Among reasons for the burgeoning live music for silent films culture is the elevated cultural status that relatively recently has become associated with silent films. They are generally seen as closer to art, in contrast with the popular forms of cinema evident at multiplexes, and have this potentially high culture status bolstered by their association with cultural heritage and its surrounding discourses.