The Sounds of the Silents in Britain

The Sounds of the Silents in Britain explores the sonic dimension of film exhibition in Britain from the emergence of cinema to the introduction of synchronized sound. Written by experts on British silent film and film music, the chapters provide an introduction to diverse aspects of early film sound: vocal performance, from lecturing and reciting to voicing the drama; music, from developments in accompanying techniques to the impact of legislation on musical practice overall; and performance in cinemas more generally, from dancing and singalong films to live stage prologues. The book also debunks some of the myths about the sonic dimension of film exhibition: it reveals that exhibition practices in London were arguably more sophisticated than those in New York before the onset of World War I, for instance, and that venue licensing decisions had a profound effect on whether music could even be performed with film in some theatres. Based on extensive archival research and musicological analysis, The Sounds of the Silents in Britain represents an important addition to early film and film music scholarship.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Sounds of the Silents in Britain Julie Brown and Annette Davison Speaking to Pictures 1. Professional Lecturing in Early British Film Shows Joe Kember 2. "Now, where were we?" Ideal and Actual Early Cinema Lecturing Practices in Britain, Germany and the US Judith Buchanan 3. Eric Williams: Speaking to Pictures Stephen Bottomore 4. Sounding Scottish: Sound Practices and Silent Cinema in Scotland Trevor Griffiths Accompanying pictures 5. "Suitable music": Accompaniment Practice in Early London Screen Exhibition from R. W. Paul to the Picture Palaces Ian Christie 6. The Art of Not Playing to Pictures in British Cinemas, 1906-1914 Jon Burrows 7. "The efforts of the wretched pianist: Learning to Play to the Pictures in Britain, 1911-1913 Andrew Higson 8. The Reception of British Exhibition Practices in The Moving Picture World, 1907-1914 James Buhler Performance in cinemas 9. Selsior Dancing Films, 1912-1917 Stephen Bottomore 10. Song Performance in the Early Sound Shorts of British Pathé Derek B. Scott 11. Atmospheric Film Prologues and the British Film Trade Papers, 1919-1926 Julie Brown, Royal Holloway 12. Animating the Audience: Singalong Films in Britain in the 1920s Malcolm Cook Musicians, Companies and Institutions 13. Workers' Rights and Performing Rights: Cinema Music and Musicians Prior to Synchronized Sound Annette Davison 14. Sound at the Film Society John Riley 15. Edmund Meisel's "visual sound" in The Crimson Circle (1929): The Case of the Vanishing Part-Talkie Fiona Ford Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Julie Brown is Reader in Music at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her publications include Bartok and the Grotesque: Studies in Modernity, The Body and Contradiction in Music, and Western Music and Race, which was awarded the American Musicological Society's Ruth A. Solie Award. Annette Davison is Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Edinburgh. Her publications include Hollywood Theory, Non-Hollywood Practice: Cinema Soundtracks in the 1980s and 1990s, Alex North's A Streetcar Named Desire: A Film Score Guide, and, with Erica Sheen, American Dreams, Nightmare Visions: The Cinema of David Lynch.

Review :
"A treasure trove of information from a group of scholars who approach the topic from a variety of angles and who collectively succeed in defining and elaborating for the first time the sound and music practices of an entire national cinema-Britain before the sound era." --David Neumeyer, The University of Texas at Austin "A tremendous contribution to the study of early film sound. The detail to which it reveals the enormous variation in practice that existed between national cinemas and within them on a local and regional level is unique. This book is a fantastic resource that will no doubt inspire and redirect the course of scholarship in early film sound." --Julie Hubbert, University of South Carolina, editor of Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History "This collection fulfills a need for addressing the history of British cinema sound, in which music was hardly covered in the 1930s. Especially for students and faculty interested in British cinema music....Highly recommended." --Choice "Sure to become a valuable resource for film and music scholars, students and, indeed, anyone interested in this extraordinarily vibrant period of cinema... One closes the book having felt that its authors have enabled the reader to vicariously experience at least part of the dynamic and rather wonderful sounds of the silents." --Viewfinder Online "The inventive, rigorous scholarship displayed by this project is...a necessary contribution to a history of popular culture." --Popular Music "[I]t is a particular pleasure to see a book published that so thoroughly explores a wide variety of archival records to reveal the idiosyncrasies of silent film traditions throughout the British Isles...The Sounds of the Silents in Britain is an important contribution to the discourse on silent cinema. Its broad interdisciplinary approach makes it accessible to students and faculty in a variety of fields...Its geographic focus enriches and complements current scholarship and, hopefully, will encourage similar projects for other national cinemas."--Notes