Silent Film Improvisation

Silent film was most often performed with piano or organ improvisation, sometimes with orchestra, but also with noises and voices that increase the realism of the work. This project explores how different musical languages, some quite contemporary, can be used with different types of film. The films range from the French féeries of Georges Méliès – films that essentially came out of his experience as an illusionist and derive from a 19th century culture of magic coupled with an interest in different forms of theatre – to horror, cartoons and images from nature. The improvisations use aspects of repertoire or references to repertoire and dissolve them into the material as part of the artistic research.

The Phantom of the Opera - The ‘Unmasking scene’ from The Phantom of the Opera (1925) directed by Rupert Julian with improvisation by Robert Sholl (organ), recorded by Peter Daynes, at Arundel Cathedral on 25 November 2016.

Le Voyage dans la lune - Méliès fairytale film Le Voyage dans la lune (1902), after Offenbach’s operetta, with an improvised accompaniment by Robert Sholl (piano), recorded live by Michael Maxwell Steer at the Savile Club, London, on St Cecilia’s day, 22 November 2019, with technical assistance from Ima von Wenden.

Maria’s Dance, Metropolis - Fritz Lang’s modernist Metropolis (1927), where (robot) Maria has come up from the underworld to bewitch the men of the Yoshiwara Club. This improvisation was performed live at the Savile Club, London, on St Cecilia’s day 22 November 2021, with technical assistance from Ima van Wenden.

The Phantom of the Opera (live) - This live recording of the ‘Unmasking scene’ from The Phantom of the Opera (1925) was made with improvisation by Robert Sholl (piano) at Tempo Rubato, Melbourne, Australia, on 14 July 2023.

L’Homme à la tête en Caoutchouc - Méliès’s illusionist film The Man with the Rubber Head (1901), a triumph of contemporaneous technology and cinematic art, with an improvised soundtrack by Robert Sholl (piano) and Caroline Ledoux (bruiteuse), recorded by Justin Whittingham on 17 October 2023.

La Lune à une metre - Méliès’s fairytale film known as The Astronomer’s Dream (1898) with an improvised soundtrack by Robert Sholl (piano) and Caroline Ledoux (bruiteuse), recorded by Justin Whittingham on 17 October 2023.

The Skeleton Dance - Walt Disney’s The Skeleton Dance (1929), with an improvised soundtrack by Robert Sholl (piano) and Caroline Ledoux (bruiteuse), recorded by Justin Whittingham on 17 October 2023.

Krtek a muzika - Cartoon Krtek a muzika (Mole and Music) by Zdeněk Miler, with an improvised soundtrack by Robert Sholl (piano) and Caroline Ledoux (bruiteuse), recorded by Justin Whittingham on 17 October 2023.

Spider vs Spider - Part seven of the Hellstrom Chronicle (1971), a documentary about insects. This section of the film concerns two spiders and is presented with an improvised soundtrack by Robert Sholl (piano) and Caroline Ledoux (bruiteuse), recorded by Justin Whittingham on 17 October 2023.

Aurora Australis I - The Aurora Australis filmed 10pm-2am on 27-28 February 2023 at Oreti Beach, near Invercargill, New Zealand, with a spectral improvised soundtrack by Robert Sholl (piano) and Caroline Ledoux (bruiteuse), recorded by Justin Whittingham on 17 October 2023.

Aurora Australis II - The Aurora Australis filmed 10pm-2am on 27-28 February 2023 at Oreti Beach, near Invercargill, New Zealand, with an improvised soundtrack (after Arvo Pärt) by Robert Sholl (piano) and Caroline Ledoux (bruiteuse), recorded by Justin Whittingham on 17 October 2023.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (live) - The famous chariot race from Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) directed by Fred Niblo, performed live at the Savile Club, London, on St Cecilia’s Day 22 November 2023, with improvisation by Robert Sholl (piano) and sound effects directed by Caroline Ledoux (bruiteuse).

The Furies, Crime without Passion - Slavko Vorkapich’s montage for Crime Without Passion (1934), directed by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, with improvisation by Robert Sholl (piano), noise effects by Caroline Ledoux (bruiteuse) and vocal effects by Anna McCready (voice), with production by Julia Bochenska and Samuel Axtell, recorded on 22 November 2023.

Robert Sholl teaches an elective on silent film improvisation at the Royal Academy of Music.

Image: live improvisation at Tempo Rubato, Melbourne, Australia, on 14 July 2023.