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. 61: Improvising Themes for Re-Use and Development
The Silent Film Music Podcast with Ben Model
59 minutes 52 seconds
1 year ago
ep. 61: Improvising Themes for Re-Use and Development
In this episode: Ben shares his experiences accompanying the silent era blockbuster "The Big Parade", the rare Italian film "A' Santanotte", Laurel & Hardy shorts, and others; he and Kerr discuss the practices of creating leitmotifs on the fly during a show, and then repeating them later in the film's score; there's some deep info and history on the different pianos at MoMA, and how the feel of playing these pianos – and the many others Ben encounters in his work – affect his playing and live-scoring; Ben's New Year's resolution for his silent film accompaniments (with a nod to Akira Kurosawa); and more.
Show notes for episode 61 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.
