Pianist Robert Bruce plays score for silent film Faust

Poster and photo from the classic 1926 silent film Faust by F. Murnau (Images courtesy of Imdb)

Oct 23, Edgewater –

F. Murnau’s 1926 film classic Faust — with live piano score by Robert Bruce.

Cultural classic aficionados will be thrilled with F. Murnau’s 1926 silent film masterpiece Faust, with live piano score by renowned composer Robert Bruce on Sunday, October 23, 2011 at the Edgewater Community Hall.

The Edgewater performance will be part of a 14-date tour of western Canada. Robert Bruce is a celebrated self-taught composer/pianist from Hamilton, Ontario. He has had a long career writing music for young children, piano repertoire for students, music for film, television and animation, music for meditation, piano works and music for his performing ensemble, Classical Nouveau. His travels around the world have allowed him to perform with some of the finest musicians, singers and dancers in the world.

Bruce’s music has now appeared in hundreds of films and television shows worldwide, including 20/20, Coast, How They Do It, Monarchy: The Royal Family, Home Show, Hotel Inspector, Killer Forensic, La Dolce Vita, British TV series Ladette To Lady, Sleep Sex, Place in the Sun, Miss Naked Beauty, Wives and many more.

Robert Bruce has scored more than a dozen silent films since 2003, including several Buster Keaton comedies and the wonderful 1927 classic, It, starring Clara Bow, which he performed at the Edgewater Hall in April of this year. Out of all his film scores, however, Faust is considered to be the most outstanding program overall. Of this, Toronto artistic director Shirley Hughes said, “Our closing night performance (of Faust) by Robert Bruce was nothing less than jaw-dropping … his stunning score melded perfectly with this incredible film built on shadow and light.”

“In this case,” says Mr. Bruce, “the planets just lined up in terms of choosing a truly great silent film to work with and having some of my best music just resonate perfectly and quite seamlessly add another dimension to the story and visuals.

“The somewhat eerie tone of the classical/ambient music I write quite a lot of, found a natural home in Faust, and that is somewhat rare for me in my scoring of both silent and modern films, as most require lighter music. The slightly Germanic element in some of my writing also lends itself very well, particularly in the scenes with the children.”

In the movie of the German classic tale, the demon Mephisto has a bet with an archangel that he can corrupt a righteous man’s soul and destroy in him what is divine. If he succeeds, the devil will win dominion over the earth. Dan Gaege, an attendee at the Toronto performance blogged the following: “Firstly, the movie itself … an amazing feat for [the era]… The special effects are countless and the performance of the devil is really quite delightful. Secondly, the music — wow! — Robert Bruce scored and performed the piece for the entire two-hour running time. … It was quite beautiful and haunting. Perfectly suited for the film.”

For details about the film itself, view http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faust_(1926_film)

A perfect choice for events of this high caliber, the Edgewater Hall, with its renowned acoustics, spacious and comfortable surroundings, hi-tech lighting and sound, and the spectacular Seiler grand piano, is home to Columbia Valley Music, which specializes in all performance art. Some of their past collaborations have been Werther with the Calgary Concert Opera Company, the first Annual Columbia Valley Chamber Music Festival and, of course, the highly popular variety shows.

Doors at the community hall open at 1:30pm, with the performance commencing at 2pm. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12.00 for seniors and $10 for students. You can purchase tickets at the door or reserve your seat by calling 250-347-9668 or sending an email to edgeh2o@telus.net.

The Edgewater Community Hall is located on Selkirk Avenue in Edgewater, BC.