Nature on Film

Early 20th Century Documentaries with Live Soundtracks

As we reflect on climate change and the natural world through this year’s theme, The Future is Green, we’re exploring unique opportunities to place the planet at the centre of our music-making.

Enjoy live screenings of early cinema’s most enduring nature films as our students compose and perform brand new works to accompany them. From mesmerizing time-lapse photography to ‘talkies’ that narrate stories about nature’s life cycles, this fascinating evening fuses students’ musical responses to the stories of nature that unfold before them.

Films:

• F Percy Smith The Birth of a Flower (1910)
• F Percy Smith The Strength and Agility of Insects (1911)
• F Percy Smith Floral Co-operative Societies (1927)
• Jean Painlevé The Seahorse (1934)
• Jean Painlevé Hyas and Stenorhynchus (1929)

Book Nature on Film at Royal Northern College of Music

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