Cartoons are not just for children ““ a notion that the Tin
Hat Quartet confirms with its performance of original scores to
animations done by Russian filmmaker Ladislaw Starewicz.
The Quartet will perform two back-to-back concerts featuring
accompaniments to Starewicz’s silent films on April 16 at
Royce Hall. The first performance is a family matinee at 2 p.m.,
followed by an evening show at 8 p.m.
Starewicz is credited with creating the first 3-D stop-motion
narratives and paved the way for animators such as The Brothers
Quay and Tim Burton. He first came up with the idea of 3-D
stop-motion narratives in 1911 when he tried to film insects, but
the heat of the studio lights caused the creatures to burn. He then
got the idea to construct detailed models of the bugs that he could
manipulate and experiment with using stop-motion cinematography.
All his films depict insects and frogs in human situations and with
human emotions.
Quartet member Mark Orton, who plays the guitar and dobro, felt
Starewicz’s silent films are appropriate for the group
because of the lack of recognition the director has in the United
States and the vivid animations fit well with the quartet’s
original scores.
“As soon as we saw the films, we realized it was a perfect
fit because there are creatures in the films that are playing
instruments,” Orton said.
The themes of Starewicz’s silent films are usually
whimsical with the plots ranging from married beetles that cheat
with other insects to a bunch of frogs that pray for a god and
ironically get in return a frog-eating crane.
“The audiences at the performances are usually comprised
of both children and adults because the children usually like the
animated insects and the fairy tale-like themes, but the adults
like the disguised social and political comments,” Orton
said.
For the quartet, the challenge of composing music for silent
films has proved to be quite distinct from that of writing music
for an album.
“Composing for silent films requires longer pieces, and it
also means that you are not the main star,” Orton said.
“We are basically backing up Starewicz’s animations,
and we are doing the best to support him.”
The April 16 performance is also different from regular Tin Hat
Quartet concerts because of its more structured form.
“We usually play concerts with our eyes closed, but with
the film concerts, we need to keep them open to make sure the music
matches with what is on screen,” Orton said.
The musical background of the Tin Hat Quartet is a combination
of both classical and jazz music, and its original scores reflect
these genres. Its sound can be best categorized as
“alternative chamber music,” which sounds like
classical music intertwined with jazz melodies while maintaining an
acoustic sound.
“The sound of our compositions, as with many other Tin Hat
(pieces), has an antique feel to it, but with a modern harmony with
added jazz moments,” Orton said. “It’s hard to
describe, but we strive to sound as original as we can.”
Even though the group makes music for cartoons, the members hope
college students attend the show and are pleased with the music as
well as enjoy the wonderful animations.
“Tin Hat’s goal with this project was to push the
envelope a bit, and we did,” Orton said.