[2015118] The Sounds of Silent
The Sounds of Silent @ ComedySuperNova – Venus Room
5:00pm, Fri 6 Mar 2015
I’ve no idea where the idea of providing live scores to silent movies came from, but I’d encountered the form previously with Bird Lantern’s stellar Sound Cinema (which principally worked with Buster Keaton’s The General).
For this event, Melbourne five-piece jazz ensemble The Sounds of Silent scored Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus. It’s a predominantly wind-based score: underpinned by keys and drums, there’s a trumpet and (glorious) trombone that are heavily used, with a bit of sax or clarinet over the top (the latter used for comic effect).
There was only a modest crowd (including Beth and myself) in for this performance, but the venue (the middle cinema of the Nova – my favourite) was spot-on, the movie was full of enjoyable Chaplin antics, and the music was fun. The concept remains sound, and I’d happily see another of these events.
(118) The Sounds of Silent: Humorous selection of songs played to Chaplin's "The Circus". Lovely accent to a fun movie. #ff2015 #ADLfringe
— Pete Muller (@festivalfreakAU) March 6, 2015