excerpt from 'Interview with Alfred Deahl' (243 words)
excerpt from 'Interview with Alfred Deahl' (243 words)
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[Alfred Deahl recalls music-making in the silent cinema] AD: [Y]ou always had a trio. You always had piano, cello and violin. You generally had that. […] [T]here was only a relief pianist would come on for the light comedies and the main film you had the trios always, mainly trios. I played, oh, years I played. It was just piano and violin where I finished up, just me and a piano. I always remember that. […] Oh, I’ve had some very nice times playing in the cinema. Used to be a good old slog, but it was damn – it was nice. Used to feel satisfied when you’d finished with it. And of course, when Ben Hur came, I was engaged as leader of the orchestra in the cinema, the old Palladium, where they showed. I was engaged as leader for that, Ben Hur. They had their own music, of course […] PJ: And what kind of music, was it, um, classical? AD: Oh, yeah, all sorts of good stuff. PJ: Was it anything written specially for that? AD: It was, but we changed it. […] Instead of the music for the chariot race we played Rienzi, Wagner’s Rienzi. […] It was very effective. […] And I had a solo bit to play and when I finished one night he [the music director] whispered to me, ‘Absolutely per.’ [Deahl is referring to the silent film version of Ben Hur, made in 1925 and starring Ramon Novarro] |
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