© Luca Concas
Music and Cinema
The General (1926-1927)
by Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman
music composed and conducted by Timothy Brock
live music performed by Orchestra Arcangelo Corelli
in collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna
From South to North, from North to South, using the same track both ways: in a frantic search for his beloved, a young man, heedless of the battle raging around him, stages two long chases back to back in the midst of the American Civil War. For this comic epic of the silent screen, Buster Keaton arranged exact replicas of period locomotives, as well as 4,000 military uniforms: “It’s got to be so authentic it hurts”, he told his staff. Timothy Brock’s score was inspired by the songs of the American civil war, by their lyrics, rhythm and bite, drawn directly from 1860s sheet music. And if the current health restrictions make it impossible to perform the original 2005 score for a large orchestra, the reduced orchestration helps keep the momentum going and provides a framework for several solos.
