Reel Music: Composers Writing for Film. Two Distinct Concerts that Celebrate Camera-Action-Music!
7:00pm pre-concert talk | 7:30pm concert
Now in its 25th year under founding Artistic Director and violist David Visentin, Salt Spring Chamber Music has been performing world-class music by world-class artists to the adventurous listening audiences of the island on the beautiful ArtSpring stage. Always richly eclectic, and sometimes sonically and emotionally challenging, SSI listeners have experienced for the first time such colourful composers as Elgar, Medtner, Laks, Piazzolla, Suk, Giannini, Martucci, Schulhoff, and others, side-by-side with the great composers such as Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Dvorak, Vivaldi, and Mozart.
The 2023 Salt Spring Chamber Fest entitled The Reel Music: Composers Writing For Film focuses its curious lens on the musical talents of composers who also wrote for film. This richly visual music is often overlooked, sometimes denigrated, for being judged as “not serious” because it was written for, or its creators wrote for film. And yet, the magical darkened world of the movie theatre has, together with the torrential spread of streamed film, never had such an overwhelmingly dominant position in our entertainment lives as it does currently.
BUY TICKETS FOR FRIDAY SHOW “Straight From the Heart”
Nino Rota Quartetto per archi (1948/54)
Sergio Morricone from Cinema Paradiso (violin and piano)
Ryuichi Sakamoto Opus and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (piano solo)
Robert Schumann Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, Op. 44
BUY TICKETS FOR SATURDAY SHOW “Shades of Epic Love”
Joaquin Turina String Quartet “La Oración del Torero” Op.34 (1926)
Carlos Gardel from Scent of a Woman (Tango)
Olafur Arnalds from Living Room Songs
Erich Korngold Piano Quintet in E Major, Op. 15
It is impossible to imagine such iconic films as The Godfather or Star Wars without their powerful and deeply-affecting musical scores. One could naturally borrow from Shakespeare and just as easily say the all the world’s a movie and we are but the actors within it. Given how much music has seeped into and permeated the “musical scores” of our daily listening lives, we no longer really see the separation of reality and fantasy without the accompaniment of music. Music enriches our living. It is our life’s soundtrack.
This year, David wanted to turn the stage over to a number of composers who he personally loves listening to and who have had a profound impact on his inner and outer life. These are the soundtracks for living, and it would, in his opinion, be an impoverished existence were their glorious sounds not to exist. Salt Spring audiences are invited to lose themselves in a few moments of listening and personal scenic imagery, hearing composers they might not have heard before or may remember from films they have seen and remember nostalgically from the past. Indulge in a time of live music where film and music dance together, written by composers who cared so deeply about the art and craft of composition.
Everyone performing on stage are very long-time friends and musical colleagues.
Performers
Catherine Ordronneau, piano | Kai Gleusteen, violin | Hiroko Kagawa, violin | David Visentin, viola | Amy Laing, cello
