PASSWORD FOR ALL LINKS (IF NEEDED): Sosin23
Battle of the Century (2017) - 18 min
1927 Laurel and Hardy short with the biggest pie fight ever filmed
2-3 rds/tpt/trb/gtr/pno/bs/dr/perc
Billion Dollar Limited (2008) - 12 min
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
Bronx Morning, A (2023) - 9 min
1930 dir. Jay Leyda
Indie short 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 (1916) - 24 min
Charlie Chaplin
String quartet, bass, piano.
Commissioned by Lobster Films
France DVD release 2013
Coney Island (2023) 1917 - 25 min
Buster Keaton, Roscoe Arbuckle comedy short
Rd/tpt/trb/pno/bs/dr/soprano. With period songs.
Commissioned by Lobster Films, France. DVD release spring 2016
password: Arbuckle
Foolish Wives 1922 - 120 min
Erich von Stroheim
fl-sax/tpt/perc/pno/sop. Lyrics by Joanna Seaton.
Performed at MASS MoCA.
High Sign, The (1921) - 25 min
Buster Keaton comedy
2016 sextet version, picc-fl/bsn/2 keyboards/bs/dr
Lime Kiln Field Day (1913) - 60 min
unfinished comedy with Bert Williams
cl/tpt/trb/pno/bs/dr
Including songs by Bert Williams and his colleagues
Commissioned by MoMA 2019
My Wife's Relations 1922 - 24 min
Buster Keaton comedy
fl-picc/bsn/keyb/pno/bs/dr.
Commissioned by Lobster Film. DVD release 2019.
MIDI score premiere at the National Gallery of Art
Now or Never 1921 - 40 min
Harold Lloyd comedy
fl/cl/2bsns/2tpt/2trb
Commisioned by the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra 2013
Richard III (1912)
a 60-minute score for the first Shakespearean silent film
vln/vc/tpt/trb/2 keyboards/soprano
Commissioned by the Westchester (NY) Film Festival in 2001
Subsequent premiere at the National Gallery of Art.
Two Vaudeville Knights (1917) - 10 min
Black vaudeville show
Tpt/trb/pno/bs/dr/optional voice
Commissioned by KinoLorber Productions 2016
Ten Nights in a Bar Room (1926) - 60 min
Classic temperance story with all-black cast
violin/tpt/trb/reed/piano/bass/gtr/drums
Commissioned by KinoLorber. DVD release 2016.
TCM, July 2016.
Upstream (1927) - 60 min
John Ford comedy
vln/pno/bs/dr/soprano. Lyrics by Joanna Seaton.
Commissioned by National Film Preservation 2013 (no vocals on this version)
SILENT FILM SCORES FOR SMALL ORCHESTRAS
High Sign, The (1921) - 25 min
Buster Keaton comedy
25 pc chamber orchestra
optional SFX track
Pawnshop, The 1917 - 25 min
Charlie Chaplin comedy
Chamber orchestra version (~22 players)
Or reduction for reed/tpt/trb/pno/bass/drums, optional strings
Commissioned by the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra 2016
Sherlock Holmes (1916) - 120 min
The first Sherlock feature film, starring William Gillette.
Medium orchestra (45 pc)
Commissioned by the Odessa International Film Festival
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
All scores published by Farmhouse Window Productions (ASCAP)