mini music movies
cinematic pastiches
The artist has a duty to hold back. He must control his feelings and commitment, he cannot pour out his heart unrestricted: he has to give shape to every feeling in an Olympic calm. Only then can the artist express some of his involvement.
— Andrei Tarkovsky
Mini music movies is a series of cinematic experiments. My love for the feature film is expressed in it. Some movies I wanted to dust off, some music I wanted to use as a soundtrack for my own movies. It has become a colourful collection. Some oldies, some classics and some totally new mini music movies.
The first feature films were silent movies. In theaters, they were shown with live piano accompaniment. The musicality of the piano pieces was often nothing to write home about. Buster Keaton's silent films deserved better, I thought. So I added new music his feature film 'The Goat' with crossovers based on Mozart's compositions. In another Buster mini music movie I added the music by Nino Rota to the chase scene from 'Cops'.
One of the first feature films ever made is about a journey to the moon. The scenario envisioned was later used for the Apollo voyages. You fly to the moon, walk around a bit and then return without a rocket for extra fuel. The returnflight of 384,000 kilometer distance is covered at lightning speed. 'Le Voyage dans la Lune' is speeded up to fit Raymond Scott's 1950 music 'By Rocket to the Moon'.
Andrei Tarkovsky was a Russian filmmaker who made long movies with hardly any music. In our time we have become so accustomed to the Hollywood way of storytelling that the films are almost impossible to watch. To draw them to our time, I shortened them and added some fitting piano music. Stalker meets Satie, Nostalghia meets Mompou and Offret meets Bach.
The music of Richard Rijnvos has always been a great inspiration to me. I had collaborated with him before on audiovisual projects. For some of his compositions about the continents of the world I made an accompanying movie. With found footage I told a story about America, Asia and Antarctica. A movie about Africa I only took offline again, because my view of that continent was a bit too pitch black for a lot of people.
George Gurdjieff is best known as a guru. Yet he left behind an extraordinary body of music. The Metropole Orchestra recorded it in 2006. I used the music for some mini music videos. Gurdjieff's piece 'N8 The Great Prayer' fits very well to 'Metropolis', both made in the 1920s. It is cinematic music that deserves more attention.
Oldies | mini music movies
Buster Keaton | Mozartian movie madness
mini music movie | 20'33"
movie
The Goat
Directed by Buster Keaton & Malcolm St. Clair
Metro Pictures Corporation, 1921
music
Mozart in Crossover
Yester Years, 2011
Cops! | Carlotta's Galop
mini music movie | 2'33"
images
shots from the movie Cops!
directed by Edward F. Cline (1922)
music
from Otto & Mezzo
Carlotta’s Galop (1962)
composed by Nino Rota (1911-1979)
rocket to the moon | the magical mystery tour
mini music movie (3′22″)
images
Le Voyage dans la Lune
Georges Méliès, 1902
Speeded up by appr. 444%
music
By Rocket to the Moon
Raymond Scott Quintet (1950)
Andrei Tarkovsky | mini music movies
Stalker | pièces froides
mini music movie (33′55″)
music pieces from Pièces Froides
composed by Erik Satie
scenes from the movie Stalker
directed by Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)
video pastiche
june 2018
Nostalghia | impresiones intimas
mini music movie (21′21″)
music pieces from Impresiones Intimas
composed by Frederico Mompou
scenes from the movie Nostalghia
directed by Andrei Tarkovsky (1983)
video pastiche
may 2017
Offret | dreistimmige inventionen
mini music movie (35′11″)
pieces from Dreistimmige Inventionen
composed by Johann Sebsatian Bach
scenes from the movie Offret (The Sacrifice)
directed by Andrei Tarkovsky (1986)
video pastiche
january 2018
Richard Rijnvos | mini music movies
Amérique du Nord
mini music movie (16′33″)
music
Richard Rijnvos
Amérique du Nord (2016)
part of the cycle Grand Atlas
images
clips from American movies
Asie | baraka samsara
mini music movie (30'44")
music
Richard Rijnvos
Asie (2014/15) part of the cycle Grand Atlas
images
photographed & directed by Ron Fricke
from Baraka & Samsara
Antarctique
mini music movie (13′22″)
music
Richard Rijnvos
Antarctique (2012) part of the cycle Grand Atlas
images
documentaries by BBC Earth and Anthony Powell
Frozen Planet and A year on Ice
George Gurdjieff | mini music movies
Gurdjieff visits The Monastery of Dance
music video (3′22″)
music
George Gurdjieff - Oriental Suite - V Tibetan Masked Dance
performed by the Metropole Orchestra (2006)
images
scenes from the movie Meetings with Remarkable Men
directed by Peter Brook (1979)
Gurdjieff reads Prosporo's Books
mini music movie (7′33″)
music
George Gurdjieff - N 33; Untitled Dance,
N 28; Lezginka, N 34; Turkish Dance
performed by the Metropole Orchestra (2006)
images
Scenes from the movie Prosporo's Books
directed by Peter Greenaway (1991)
Gurdjieff in Metropolis
mini music movie (8′22″)
George Gurdjieff - N8; The Great Prayer
performed by the Metropole Orchestra (2006)
images
scenes from the movie Metropolis
directed by Fritz Lang (1927)
— mini music movies (2017-2022)
mini music movies | cinematic pastiches
