Ben Model discusses scoring music for silent movies.
Biographical portrait of one of Broadway's most brilliant songwriters. Told through the use of archival material and interviews with the rich and famous that knew him, this portrait concentrates on his career and his public life events.
A look back at the violent conflict between the two leading figures of musical modernity, Arnold Schönberg and Igor Stravinsky, in the first decades of the 20th century. Although Arnold Schönberg and Igor Stravinsky both had a decisive influence on the fourth art, their creations remained diametrically opposed. While the Austrian developed the dodecaphonic method, placing the twelve notes of the chromatic scale at the heart of the composition technique to the detriment of tonality, his Russian rival based his practice on stylistic eclecticism. Their supporters formed two opposing camps, and the two composers - one the father of the Second Viennese School, the other of Neoclassicism - became, in the wake of their successes, the figureheads of a conflict that marked the history of music by its duration and intensity.
Balavoine, enquête sur un destin tragique
Blue for a Moment is a documentary portrait of Swedish-born, Berlin-based musician Sven-Åke Johansson, a key figure in European improvised and experimental music. Active as a jazz drummer, composer, poet and visual artist, Johansson has spent decades challenging artistic conventions and genre boundaries. Born in 1943, he moved to Berlin in the late 1960s and became involved in the city’s experimental scene, including the Zodiak Free Arts Lab. During the 1970s and 1980s he played an important role in the West Berlin free jazz movement around the FMP/SÅJ label, collaborating with musicians such as Alexander von Schlippenbach and Rüdiger Carl. Influenced by Fluxus and modernist traditions, Johansson developed a distinctive approach based on noise, reduction and the use of everyday materials, anticipating the Echtzeitmusik scene that emerged in Berlin after 1990. The film explores his creative process, artistic philosophy and lasting impact on contemporary experimental music.
A humorous documentary about the search for a great composer who managed to overcome his depression by spelling his own name wrong.
Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto weaves man-made and natural sounds together in his works. His anti-nuclear activism grew after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and his career only paused after a 2014 cancer diagnosis.
Stanley Nelson's syncopated voyage through the history of funk music, from early roots to 1970s urban funk and beyond.
An overview of Cole Porter’s musical contributions to the film Broadway Melody of 1940.
Fifty years after his death, this musical and psychological portrait of Ralph Vaughan Williams explores the passions that drove a giant of 20th-century English music.
Karel Svoboda: Šťastná léta
An extraordinary live performance of Hans Zimmer's most beloved and renowned movie soundtracks, including music from Dune, Gladiator, Interstellar, and The Lion King. Featuring conversations with creative collaborators Billie Eilish, Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Finneas, Jerry Bruckheimer, Pharrell Williams, Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and more.
An in-depth look of the 40 year journey, from post-war Germany to Hollywood royalty, of Hans Zimmer, the man who’s become the dominant force in the world of movie soundtracks. His film credits include The Lion King, Rain Man, Pirates of The Caribbean, Gladiator, The Dark Knight Trilogy, 12 Year A Slave, The Thin Red Line, The Da Vinci Code and Dune.
De eeuw van Simeon ten Holt
Hosted by Bette Midler, enjoy a musical tribute to the man who wrote some of the most enduring songs in American popular music. Lyricist Hal David and composer Burt Bacharach dominated the pop-music charts in the 1960s and early ’70s, crafting dozens of timeless Top 40 hits.
Lašská rapsodie
This 56-minute documentary on America's most controversial and unique composer manages to cover a great many aspects of Cage's work and thought. His love for mushrooms, his Zen beliefs and use of the I Ching, and basic bio details are all explained intelligently and dynamically. Black Mountain, Buckminster Fuller, Rauschenberg, Duchamp are mentioned. Yoko Ono, John Rockwell, Laurie Anderson, Richard Kostelanetz make appearances. Fascinating performance sequences include Margaret Leng-Tan performing on prepared piano, Merce Cunningham and company, and performances of Credo In Us, Water Music, and Third Construction. Demystifies the man who made music from silence, from all sounds, from life.
Idiosyncratic composer, unique musician and ground-breaking film director ..Frank Zappa packed more into his short lifetime than most men would manage in two. His restless, challenging, creative spirit meant that he never stood still during a career that bought huge critical and commercial success Zappa sold more than 60 million albums both as a solo artist and with the Mothers of Invention. The life and work of Frank Zappa are examined in this superb new critical review, which features new in-depth interviews with industry insiders, rock journalists and respected critics plus highlights from the songs that re-drew the face of rock music.
Leoš Janáček
In Search of Beethoven offers a comprehensive documentary about the life and works of the great composer. Over 65 performances by the world's finest musicians were recorded and 100 interviews conducted in the making of this beautifully crafted film. Eleven interviews are included in the Extras and Six complete movements.