Live soundtracks for silent movies carry a double role: a musical score, accompanying the movie’s narrative, highlighting climax point and creating subtle psychological subtexts; as well as, they fill in the ‘missing’ post-production effects for these silent-film era.
I was lucky to be invited by Amir Vodka-Berendsen, director of Sounds of Silence festival in The Hague, to create soundtracks for some of these masterpiece works.
The Faithful Heart (Cœur fidèle, Jean Epstein, 1923), with Marie Guilleray (voice, electronics), Onno Govaert (percussion), Arvind Ganga (elect. guitar), Ilya Ziblat (contrabass).
The General (Buster Keaton, 1926), with Carlos Ema (piano), Oğuz Büyükberber (bass clarinet), Luis Mora (percussion), Ilya Ziblat (contrabass).
2016 (Sounds of Silence_3rd edition)
Nosferatu (F. W. Murnau, 1922), with Mei-yi Lee (Percussion), Ilya Ziblat (contrabass & live electronics).
The mystery-full, horror-evoking sounds relate not only to the tension and suspense of this classic vampire movie, but also suggest acceptance and submission to (super)natural powerful forces embodied in the image of Nosferatu.
