ENSEMBLE SCORES

silent film music • concert music

 

 PASSWORD FOR ALL LINKS  (IF NEEDED):   Sosin23

Battle of the Century (2017) 1927 Laurel and Hardy short (18 min.) with the biggest pie fight ever filmed,                                                                         2-3 rds/tpt/trb/gtr/pno/bs/dr/perc 

Billion Dollar Limited (2008.) New score for the 1942 Paramount Superman cartoon. Commissioned by Filmmusik. First perf.                                   Northampton MA 11/08 fl/cl/tpt/trb/perc/timp/pno/2 vln/vla/vc/DB 12' 

Bronx Morning, A (2023) 1930 dir. Jay Leyda. Indie short (9 min.) shot in the Bronx. cl/tpt/piano/accordion or synth/bass.Commissioned              by Unseen Cinema project, DVD release 2005. 

Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The (2017), (75 min.) dir. Robert Wiene, horror film in German expressionist style,                                                                       cl/trb/vln/vc/keyboard/chorus and pre-recorded sound. Commissioned by Society for New Music, Syracuse NY 

Count, The (2013) 1916 Charlie Chaplin. 24 min. String quartet, bass, piano. Commissioned by Lobster Films, France DVD release 2013. 

Coney Island (2023) 1917 comedy short. 25 min. Buster Keaton, Roscoe Arbuckle. Rd/tpt/trb/pno/bs/dr/soprano. Commissioned by                     Lobster Films, France.  DVD release spring 2016   password Arbuckle With period songs. 

Foolish Wives (2024) 1922. Erich von Stroheim 120 min. fl-sax/tpt/perc/pno/sop. Performed at MASS MoCA. Lyrics by Joanna Seaton. 

High Sign, The (2016) 1921 Buster Keaton comedy 25 min. sextet version picc-fl/bsn/2 keyboards/bs/dr  

Lime Kiln Field Day (2019) unfinished 1913 comedy with Bert Williams. 60 min. cl/tpt/trb/pno/bs/dr Commissioned by MoMA. Including             songs by Williams and his colleagues 

My Wife's Relations (2022) 1922 Buster Keaton comedy. fl-picc/bsn/keyb/pno/bs/dr. Commissioned by Lobster Film. DVD release 2019.               (MIDI demo, premiere March 2023 National Gallery of Art, Washington

Now or Never (2013) 1921 Harold Lloyd. 40 min. fl/cl/2bsns/2tpt/2trb Commisioned by the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra  

Richard III (2001) 1912 vln/vc/tpt/trb/2 keyboards/soprano  a 60-minute score for the first Shakespearean silent film (1912).                                    Commissioned by the Westchester (NY) Film Festival in 2001 and premiered there, subsequently at the National Gallery of Art. 

Two Vaudeville Knights (2016) 1917  Black vaudeville show (10 min.)  Commissioned by KinoLorber Productions.                                                          Tpt/trb/pno/bs/dr/optional voice  

Ten Nights in a Bar Room (2016) 1926 Classic temperance story with all-black cast. (60 min.) violin/tpt/trb/reed/piano/bass/gtr/drums                 Commissioned by KinoLorber. DVD release 2016. TCM, July 2016.

Upstream (2013) John Ford 1927 comedy (60 min.) vln/pno/bs/dr/soprano. Lyrics by Joanna Seaton. Commissioned by National Film                      Preservation  (no vocals on this version) 

SILENT FILM SCORES FOR SMALL ORCHESTRAS 

High Sign, The (2016) 1921 Buster Keaton comedy 25 min. 25 pc chamber orchestra  optional SFX track. 

Pawnshop, The (2016) 1917 Charlie Chaplin comedy 25 min. chamber orchestra version (~22 players) or reduction for                                                  reed/tpt/trb/pno/bass/drums, optional strings Commissioned by the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra 

Sherlock Holmes (2016) the 1916 first Sherlock feature film, starring William Gillette. Medium orchestra (45 pc). Commissioned by the                 Odessa International Film Festival 120 min.

OTHER CHAMBER MUSIC 

Four Evening Songs, a set of Yiddish and Russian lullabies for mezzo with fl/cl/vla/vc/hp/harmonium. (1973)  8 min. 

Yes Indeed! (1983) 13 min.  quintet for two reeds, percussion and bass                                                                                                                                        “The most exciting moments of the evening came with Donald Sosin's 'Yes, Indeed!', an ebulliently eclectic combination of jazz,                 minimalism and high spirits." —Tim Page, New York Times 

For the Cigarette Sellers of Three Crosses Square, 1980. str. qt/bass. 

Commissioned by Westchester Jewish Conference. Premiere April 1980 New Rochelle NY 

In the Quiet Cool of Evening, 1982. sop/fl/vla/pno. Text anon. 

Third Rail, 1972. sop/bar/pno. Songs on found texts about trains/subways. Premiered by Ashley Putnam. 

Esther, 1977, rev. 2012. Opera for family audience in one act. 56 min. Libretto by Sari Magaziner.                                                                                       Commissioned by Opera Theatre of Long Island. Four productions to date. Sop/mezz/ten/bar/bass, narr. With optional children                singing/dancing chorus hn/vc/pno http://vimeo.com/41128690     

All scores published by Farmhouse Window Productions (ASCAP)