Ben and Kerr talk about Ben's shows at MoMA's "Silent Movie Week" of "Saxophon Susi" and "Berlin: Symphony of a Great City", and at the Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center for an early Louise Brooks Paramount feature. Ben discusses adjusting his approach to laying down a recorded score when scoring "Poisoned Paradise" (1924) with Clara Bow for the National Film Preservation Foundation, and for Keystone shorts for the "Rediscovering Roscoe" Blu-ray set due out in 2026. Ben and Kerr discuss their both noticing a growing and a younger audience for silent film in recent years, with Ben observing this at Capitolfest this past August. Performance excerpts include "Saxophon Susi" (piano, at MoMA), "Love 'em and Leave 'em" (1924) (piano, at the Atrium), and "Finders Keepers"(1928) starrring Laura LaPlante (theatre organ, at Capitolfest). The latter is also included as an example of a live score being affected by the film's introduction, in this case by historian/author Laura Jerrolds.
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Ben and Kerr talk about Ben's shows at MoMA's "Silent Movie Week" of "Saxophon Susi" and "Berlin: Symphony of a Great City", and at the Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center for an early Louise Brooks Paramount feature. Ben discusses adjusting his approach to laying down a recorded score when scoring "Poisoned Paradise" (1924) with Clara Bow for the National Film Preservation Foundation, and for Keystone shorts for the "Rediscovering Roscoe" Blu-ray set due out in 2026. Ben and Kerr discuss their both noticing a growing and a younger audience for silent film in recent years, with Ben observing this at Capitolfest this past August. Performance excerpts include "Saxophon Susi" (piano, at MoMA), "Love 'em and Leave 'em" (1924) (piano, at the Atrium), and "Finders Keepers"(1928) starrring Laura LaPlante (theatre organ, at Capitolfest). The latter is also included as an example of a live score being affected by the film's introduction, in this case by historian/author Laura Jerrolds.
ep. 55: Music for unconventional silent films and other purposes
The Silent Film Music Podcast with Ben Model
52 minutes 59 seconds
2 years ago
ep. 55: Music for unconventional silent films and other purposes
In this episode: Ben talks about scoring silent films that lack a traditional narrative – films made for educational purposes – and creating music that is more "visual" than what is usually done for silents; films discussed are the 1922 "Making of a Bronze Statue" and the 1970 "Spirals" produced by the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Ben has been hired to score these and others for the Met's online "From the Vaults" series; also covered are the live-scoring of polar exploration silent films shown at the Stumfilmdager (Silent Film Days) festival in Tromsø, Norway, and the accompanying of college graduates receiving their diplomas at Radio City Music Hall; Ben talks about creating and recording musical motifs, transitions and underscore for the streaming children's program "Danny Joe's Tree House".
Show notes for episode 55 can be found here.
The Silent Film Music Podcast with Ben Model
Ben and Kerr talk about Ben's shows at MoMA's "Silent Movie Week" of "Saxophon Susi" and "Berlin: Symphony of a Great City", and at the Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center for an early Louise Brooks Paramount feature. Ben discusses adjusting his approach to laying down a recorded score when scoring "Poisoned Paradise" (1924) with Clara Bow for the National Film Preservation Foundation, and for Keystone shorts for the "Rediscovering Roscoe" Blu-ray set due out in 2026. Ben and Kerr discuss their both noticing a growing and a younger audience for silent film in recent years, with Ben observing this at Capitolfest this past August. Performance excerpts include "Saxophon Susi" (piano, at MoMA), "Love 'em and Leave 'em" (1924) (piano, at the Atrium), and "Finders Keepers"(1928) starrring Laura LaPlante (theatre organ, at Capitolfest). The latter is also included as an example of a live score being affected by the film's introduction, in this case by historian/author Laura Jerrolds.
