Bloody Women: From Gothic To Horror

2011 saw six adventurous new musical commissions for classic silent films, premiered at BFI Southbank and the Southbank Centre during the Festival in March under the theme Bloody Women: From Gothic To Horror.

The 2011 line-up included a first acappella composition by Grammy award winner Imogen Heap for early surrealist film The Seashell and the Clergyman (1927); experimental pop sensation Micachu scoring Lotte Reiniger's innovative animation Hansel and Gretel (1955); haunting vocalist Seaming alongside Maya Derren's trance film Meshes of the Afternoon (1943); contemporary folkster Blue Roses scoring the canonical Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (1920); acclaimed pianist Lola Perrin on gothic form for The Wind (1928); and Tara Busch's taut score for early thriller Suspense (1913).
 

  • The Seashell and the Clergyman + Imogen Heap & the Holst Singers

    Women of the World / Southbank Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 11 March
    Latitude Festival, 14-17th July 2011
    Roundhouse Reverb Festival, 26 February 2012
    Sage Gateshead, 27 February 2012
    Grammy Award-winner Imogen Heap's first choral score accompanies this early surrealist work.

  • Hansel and Gretel + Micachu

    Women of the World / SBC Queen Elizabeth Hall, 11 March
    Latitude Festival, 14-17th July
    Art Late, Edinburgh, 25 August
    The experimental pop sensation accompanies this innovative sillhouette animation.

  • Meshes of the Afternoon + Seaming

    Women of the World / Southbank Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 11 March
    Latitude Festival, 14-17th July
    Searing vocals accompany this early trance film.

  • Suspense + Tara Busch

    Women of the World / Southbank Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Fri 11 March
    Latitude Festival, 14-17th July 
    Rising star Tara Busch scores the first split-screen thriller.

  • The Wind + Lola Perrin

    BEV 2011, BFI Southbank NFT3, Wed 9 March 2011
    Latitude Festival, 14-17th July 2011
    Brighton Duke of York's Picturehouse, 8 April 2012
    This gothic drama is sharply scored by jazz-influenced pianist Lola Perrin.

  • Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde + Blue Roses

    BEV 2011, BFI Southbank NFT3, 11 March 2011
    Latitude Festival, 14-17th July 2011
    Green Man Festival, 19-21 August 2011
    Electric Cinema, Notting Hill, 18 September 2011
    Arnolfini, Bristol, 18 February 2012
    Leeds Hyde Park Picturehouse, 9 March 2012
    Newcastle Tyneside Cinema, date TBC 2012     

    This canonical silent work finds new life alongside Blue Roses' haunting score

 The silent film programme is curated by Kelly Robinson.