Hello and welcome to The Sound of Silence, the first season of The Peeping Archivist’s podcast The Conversation.
For this first podcast series, we wanted to put words on an art too often, and unjustifiably, considered mute: silent cinema.
Silent cinema has long been a priority for film archivists worldwide. And for good reason: at least 90% of films produced during the silent era are considered lost. But it’s not just enough to save the films; it’s about sharing them too. Since silent films were never truly silent (as in, they were almost always accompanied by live musical scores), it becomes particularly important for archivists to help preserve and present the silent film experience as a whole.
That’s why The Peeping Archivist decided to speak to some of the finest silent film accompanists of our generation, to find out how they work and how we as archivists can work with them to bring to life the magic of silent films!
This episode of The Sound of Silence is a free-flowing improvisation on the theme of silent film accompaniment by a maestro of the genre, Antonio Coppola.
Mr Coppola started accompanying silent films in 1975 at the cineclub L’Officina in Rome. He immediately fell in love with the experience, enjoying the freedom as well as the thrills of improvising from images moving on a screen.
He has since been invited to film archives and festivals around the world, and composed the music for several DVDs, taking part among others in Kino Lorber’s release of Buster Keaton: The Shorts Collection, 1917-1923.
We met with Antonio Coppola during the 2018 edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato for an exciting discussion on musical identities, teaching improvisation and why Italy remains the best country for silent film lovers.
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