Posted
April 1, 2016 in “Arts”
WPI
chorus, orchestra to perform Voices
of Light to
accompany The
Passion of Joan of Arc silent
film
It
was literally lost among the ashes.
For
decades, it was assumed completely eradicated by not just one—but
two—fires amidst the tumult of the mid-20th
Century.
But
then in the 1980s, tucked away in an unassuming janitor’s closet in
a Norwegian hospital, an obscure version of the 1928 French film was
inexplicably discovered.
In
the ensuing decades, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The
Passion of Joan of Arc has
been restored as well as rescored by award-winning American composer
Richard Einhorn.
On
Saturday (April 2), WPI’s music department will present its own
resurrection of sorts of the acclaimed silent film in a rare and
unique performance melding live music and cinema.
The
WPI Orchestra and Festival Chorus will perform Einhorn’s Voices
of Light as
live accompaniment to The
Passion of Joan of Arc.
The event will be held at 5 p.m. on Saturday in the sanctuary of the
First Baptist Church of Worcester, at the corner of Park Avenue and
Salisbury Street.
“It’s
a very fun and unusual event,” says John Delorey, festival chorus
director. “It’s rare that you would get to hear a live score to
any movie, let alone a silent movie.”
Considered by some to be one of
the best films ever made, The
Passion of Joan of Arc stars
Renée Falconetti as the doomed heroine, depicting the legendary
figure’s captivity, trial, and execution, based on actual
historical transcripts.
Thinking
ahead of his time, director Dreyer made use of unusual camera angles,
lighting, and close-ups.
“It
is considered to be quite revolutionary,” says Delorey, also
describing the film as “…evocative. The bottom line is it’s a
really good movie. It’s a compelling story.”
The
film debuted in 1928 in Copenhagen, and was immediately acclaimed
(although it was ultimately a financial disaster). Subsequent
versions were cut and re-narrated for various political, religious,
and social reasons, and Dreyer’s original vision was thought to be
lost when the master version and several other versions were
destroyed in two separate fires.
A few years following the
re-discovery of Dreyer’s original cut hidden away in an Oslo mental
hospital, composer Einhorn came upon a copy in the film archives of
New York’s Museum of Modern Art. After viewing it, according to his
website, he was inspired to write Voices
of Light,
which is scored for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra.
Delorey
called the piece a “perfect match” for this year’s festival
chorus, what he called a group of “smart singers” who have been
rehearsing it since January. The performance is vocally challenging
in that it involves sustained singing throughout the film’s 1 hour
and 22 minutes, he says, and there is no sound effects work
(performers don’t mimic any on-screen action).
“Once
it starts, it goes, that’s the nerve-wracking part of it,” says
Delorey. “It exposes students to a very high level of music.”
The
score serves as its own entity of sorts, starting with St. Joan’s
voice even before the film begins, then weaving itself in and out of
the narrative. Incorporating chanting and minimalist note patterns,
it is modern but also Medieval, according to Delorey, and “energetic
and beautiful.”
Douglas
Weeks, director of the WPI orchestra, meanwhile, calls it “unusual,”
as well as a “haunting piece for strings and organ that fit well
into the church setting.”
Cost:
$15 general admission, $10 for seniors or with a WPI ID, free for
students with valid ID. Tickets will be available at the door.
– BY
TARYN PLUMB
Original story link.
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