Timothy Brock in his Bologna studio - 2014

Timothy Brock (born 1963) is an American-born conductor and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

specializing in concert works of the early 20th-century, orchestral performance practices of the 1920s and 1930s, and live performances to accompany

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

Silent film scores

Brock has restored silent film scores for various films including

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

's only silent film score, ''

The New Babylon ''The New Babylon'' (russian: Новый Вавилон, Novyy Vavilon alt. title: russian: Штурм неба, Shturm neba) is a 1929 silent historical drama film written and directed by Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg. The film deals w ...

(Новый Вавилон)'' (1929), Manilo Mazza's Italian epic, ''

Cabiria ''Cabiria'' is a 1914 Italian epic silent film, directed by Giovanni Pastrone and shot in Turin. The film is set in ancient Sicily, Carthage, and Cirta during the period of the Second Punic War (218–202 BC). It follows a melodramatic main p ...

'' (1913),

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

's dadaist score, ''

Entr'acte (or ', ;Since 1932–35 the French Academy recommends this spelling, with no apostrophe, so historical, ceremonial and traditional uses (such as the 1924 René Clair film title) are still spelled ''Entr'acte''. German: ' and ', Italian: ''inte ...

'' (1924)Mereghetti, Paolo, “I film rari e restaurati che seducono la piazza”, La Repubblica, June 6, 2008 and

George Antheil George Johann Carl Antheil (; July 8, 1900 – February 12, 1959) was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author, and inventor whose modernist musical compositions explored the modern sounds – musical, industrial, and mechanical – of t ...

's score to ''

Ballet mécanique ''Ballet Mécanique'' (1923–24) is a Dadaist post-Cubist art film conceived, written, and co-directed by the artist Fernand Léger in collaboration with the filmmaker Dudley Murphy (with cinematographic input from Man Ray).Chilvers, Ian & Glav ...

'' (1924). Other film-score restorations include

Max Butting Max Butting (6 October 1888 in Berlin, German Empire – 13 July 1976 in Berlin, East Germany) was a German composer. Life Max Butting was the son of an ironmonger and of a piano teacher. He received his first musical instruction from his m ...

's ''Opus I'' (1920),

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

' '' L'Assassinat du duc de Guise'' (1908) and

Ildebrando Pizzetti Ildebrando Pizzetti (20 September 1880 – 13 February 1968) was an Italian composer of classical music, Musicology, musicologist, and Music criticism, music critic. Biography Pizzetti was born in Parma in 1880. He was part of the "Generation ...

's ''Sinfonia del fuoco'' (1914).

Charlie Chaplin scores

In 1998, the

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

estate commissioned Brock to restore the Chaplin-composed score to '' Modern Times''. Brock then restored 11 more Chaplin silent feature and short scores through 2012, including ''

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American silent romantic comedy film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and ...

'' (1931), ''

The Gold Rush ''The Gold Rush'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film also stars Chaplin in his Little Tramp persona, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Henry Bergman, and Malcolm Waite. Chapl ...

'' (1924), and '' The Circus'' (1928). In 2004, Brock transcribed some 13 hours of unheard Chaplin compositions from a newly discovered acetate recording of Chaplin composing on the piano. This resulted in the creation of a new score for Chaplin's feature drama ''

A Woman of Paris ''A Woman of Paris'' is a feature-length American silent film that debuted in 1923. The film, an atypical drama film for its creator, was written, directed, produced and later scored by Charlie Chaplin. It is also known as ''A Woman of Paris: A ...

'' (1923), a work that Brock has conducted in concert a number of times, including at ''Cinema Ritrovato'' 2005 in Bologna, the

Kino Babylon The Kino Babylon is a cinema in the Mitte neighbourhood of Berlin and part of a listed building complex at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz opposite the Volksbühne theatre. The building was erected 1928–29. It was designed by the architect Hans Poelzig i ...

in Berlin in 2011, as well as a studio recording made with Orchestra Citta Aperta in Rome and London, with whom he has also conducted a complete recording of ''

'' in 2012.

Original scores

Brock has written 27 original scores for silent film, including ''

Miss Europe Miss Europe is a beauty pageant for European women from all over Europe. It was established in February 1927 by Fanamet, the European distributor of Paramount, as a one-off event where the winner was to star in a film directed by Friedrich W ...

'' (Orchestre National de Lyon), ''

Steamboat Bill, Jr. ''Steamboat Bill, Jr.'' is a 1928 silent comedy film starring Buster Keaton. Released by United Artists, the film is the final product of Keaton's independent production team and set of gag writers. It was not a box-office success and became th ...

'' (Berner Symphonie-Orchester), ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Al ...

'' (20th Century Fox), ''

The Cameraman ''The Cameraman'' is a 1928 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Edward Sedgwick and an uncredited Buster Keaton. The picture stars Keaton and Marceline Day. ''The Cameraman'' was Keaton's first film with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is ...

'' (Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra), ''

Burlesque on Carmen ''A Burlesque on Carmen'' is Charlie Chaplin's thirteenth film for Essanay Studios, originally released as ''Carmen'' on December 18, 1915. Chaplin played the leading man and Edna Purviance played Carmen. The film is a parody of Cecil B. DeMil ...

'' (Teatro Zarzuela, Madrid) and ''

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (german: Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari) is a 1920 German silent horror film, directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. Considered the quintessential work of German Expressionist cinema, ...

'' (Brussels Philharmonic/BMG). Brock's long-standing relationship with the world-leading film-preservation institution, the Cineteca di Bologna, has resulted in 7 scores. Among them are ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ...

'' (1922), ''

Lady Windermere's Fan ''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London. The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband i ...

'' (1925), ''

3 Bad Men ''3 Bad Men'' is a 1926 American silent film, silent Western (genre), Western film directed by John Ford. Bob Mastrangelo has called it "One of John Ford's greatest silent epics." The film possibly inspired the title for Akira Kurosawa's 1958 fi ...

'' (1926) and ''

Feu Mathias Pascal ''Feu Mathias Pascal'' (''The late Matthias Pascal'') is a 1925 French silent film written and directed by Marcel L'Herbier. It was the first film adaptation of Luigi Pirandello's novel '' Il fu Mattia Pascal''. Background Since seeing a Paris ...

'' (1926).Kehr, Dave, “New Identity, Same Old History” New York Times, February 15, 2013

Concert works

Brock's concert works include three symphonies, three concertos, a cantata, two operas, and a number of individual orchestral pieces. In 1995 he received a composer fellowship from the Artist Trust Foundation, during which he composed his first opera ''Billy'' (1995, libretto by Bryan Willis), the ''Divertimento: Five Picture-Postcards for Orchestra'', and his second opera, ''Mudhoney'' (1998, adaptation of the original Friday Locke screenplay by the composer and Bryan Willis). In 1999, he was commissioned to compose an orchestral song cycle for soprano Cyndia Sieden: ''The Funeral of Youth'', four orchestral settings to four poems of the English poet

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915)The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. was an En ...

References

* Bloom, David. "Org orchestrates silent fete for Chaplin" ''Variety'' June 9–15, 2003, p. 59. * King, Susan. "The score? Live music and lots of belly laughs" ''Los Angeles Times'' May 28, 2007, p. E8. * Maland, Charles J. ''City Lights'' (London: British Film Institute, 2007), p. 128. * Simels, Steve. "The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari" '' Entertainment Weekly'' no. 329 (May 31, 1996) p. 69. * Tommasini, Anthony. "The Tramp Returns, with Exuberant backing by the Philharmonic" ''New York Times" Sept. 21, 2014

External links

Timothy Brock website

Timothy Brock Imdb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brock, Timothy 1963 births American film score composers American male film score composers American male classical composers American classical composers Living people