Concert Magic

Concert Magic
Directed byPaul Gordon
Produced byPaul Gordon
George Moskov
StarringYehudi Menuhin
Jacob Gimpel
Eula Beal
CinematographyPaul Ivano
Edited byDouglas Bagier
Music byVictor Clement
Production
company
Concert Films Corporation
Release date
  • 1948 (1948)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Concert Magic is 1948 motion picture which advertises itself as "first complete concert, in the accepted manner, to be presented on the screen". It is one of the earliest concert films.

Overview

The film begins with a written prologue accompanied by narration stressing the importance of music to peoples' lives and the fact that it remains even if empires fall, tyrants rise and are slain, or battles lost. It states that the purpose of this film is to provide the opportunity to present the concert hall experience to people who would otherwise not be so fortunate – the "remote communities of every nation." It is specifically dedicated to music lovers who personal experience of music by distinguished performers is inaccessible.

According to the The New York Times review, published 20 June 1948, the picture was filmed at Republic Studios but shot to playback at Chaplin Studios. Additionally, a separate "up close" version had been produced for possible television transmission. There was also a performance of one of Felix Mendelssohn's violin concertos that had been filmed but not edited into the final product.

Compositions and musicians

The film is divided into 14 sections each containing a performance of a specific composition.

1. Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Major Op. 12 Allegro con brio by Ludwig van Beethoven

2. Praeludium partia for unaccompanied violin #3 by Johann Sebastian Bach

3.Scherzo Tarantelle by Henryk Wieniawski

4.Ave Maria by Charles Gounod, adapted from the first prelude of Johann Sebastian Bach

5.Un sospira etude – Franz Liszt

6.Mazurkas – Frédéric Chopin

7.St Matthew Passion – Johann Sebastian Bach

8.Perpetual motion Op. 11 – Niccolò Paganini

9. Erlkönig – Franz Schubert, German text by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

10.Étude E Major Op. 10 – Frédéric Chopin

11. None but the Lonely Heart Op. 6 #6 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

12.Labyrinth Number 5 – Pietro Locatelli

13.Caprice No. 24 – Niccolò Paganini

14.Caprice No. 24 – Niccolò Paganini

15.Ave Maria – Franz Schubert

See also

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Christian Robert Luke Investigating the origins, ethics, and various forms of the music documentary Masters thesis, York St John University. 2020 p.12
  2. ↑ Concert Magic at 1:12–2:48
  3. ↑ Concert Magic (1948)

Further reading