![]() ![]() As part of my research I am evaluating in more detail which kind of music was predominately used in British cinema and if certain music was played for certain genres. This observation coincides with previous research in the field. An initial examination gives the impression that in most cases marching music or national themes were used to illustrate the news of the day, popular songs were used to illustrate comedies, and very often descriptive classical music was used to accompany romances or pictures of landscapes. Unfortunately, without having any information about the films, we can only guess why the numbers were assigned to these specific pictures. Other owners even handed out a “request sheet” to cinemagoers, which they could use to request their favorite songs or musical pieces.Īs can be seen in this programme of the Theatre-de-Luxe, Birmingham (EXE BD 18602), there is a musical piece assigned to each screened film, in the case of the main film of the evening, two pieces. After a first evaluation of the programmes, it can be said that the theatre owners' approach to music varied a lot: while some theatres did not mention music in their programmes, some recognised the attraction of music from very early on and provided information not only about the musicians but also published a separate leaflet listing all the pieces played during the presentation of animated pictures. ![]() ![]() The theatre programmes not only reveal biographical information about the conductors and the different roles of music, but also give insights into whether theatre owners used music as a means to draw more customers. The rich and diverse collections of the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum provided me with the perfect opportunity not only to study theatre programmes and campaign, and publicity materials, but also an immense collection of sheet music, including most prominently some original documents and scores from cinema conductors, as well as an overwhelming amount of mood music.ĭuring my stay at the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum one fruitful resource for study proved to be the collection of theatre programmes. Research of the musical exhibition practices during the silent era depends on a variety of primary sources. I also sought to find out which instances or people contributed to music becoming a standard element in film exhibitions. project is to reconstruct when, where, and why music was used in early British silent cinema, focusing not only on music that was specifically played to accompany the pictures but also overture music, music to attract customers, and intermission music. To explore the various different roles music took on in the early silent era, I visited the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum for several weeks in 2017. During the first years of cinematography, the role of music during film screenings was not yet defined and largely depended on the abilities of the musicians, the financial resources of the theatre owners, as well as the location, size, and the pre-existing musical traditions of the performance venues. Considering the amount of work and money that is put into film music today, it is hard to imagine that the symbiosis of film and music was not taken for granted in the past as it is today. Music has been an integral part of film productions for a long time, and the combination of music and film is by now taken for granted by cinemagoers. Stipend holder Carolin Beinroth explores our collection of material on music in the silent cinema. ![]()
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