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 first episode of The Sound of Silence is an unexpected journey, one that brings us away from the archives to ballet practices and imaginary films, briefly stopping at Donald Trump. But this odyssey really started a long time ago, with a ghost.
In Rupert Julian’s 1925 The Phantom of the Opera, a mysterious spectre haunts the premises of the Paris Opera House, hoping to make his young protégée, the soprano Christine, the Opera’s lead singer. From hidden places beyond the walls, he whispers encouraging words to Christine, soon transforming her into a star.
Similarly, the musicians who accompany silent films instillate life to these films. Unfortunately, since they are hidden in the orchestra pit or behind their instrument, their contribution to the success of the films is too rarely appreciated by audiences – that is, until someone unmasks them.
Coincidentally, The Phantom of the Opera is also the film that introduced our first guest to silent film lovers worldwide: Gabriel Thibaudeau, whose 1990s score of Julian’s work remains iconic to this day.
Starting his career as a composer and pianist, Mr Thibaudeau has now been the official silent film accompanist of the Cinémathèque Québécoise for the past 30 years and a regular performer at silent and restored film festivals for almost as long. He regularly travels across the world to conduct his compositions and has written several scores for silent video and DVD releases – Jean Epstein’s The Fall of the House of Usher, Eric von Stroheim’s Foolish Wives, or Paul Leni’s The Man who Laughs are just a few titles from his illustrious career.
We had the chance to meet Mr Thibaudeau in June 2018 at Il Cinema Ritrovato. He told us during an hour-long interview what it meant to him to be a silent film accompanist, the challenges and the evolution of the profession, and how his dual formation, as a composer and a musician, has informed his style.
0 Comments