Mood music

In a time of plague and crisis, a good man makes a deal with the devil, in hopes of saving his community from death and destruction. But when his community turns on him, he finds his newfound power too much to resist.

The German folktale of Faust and his bargain with Mephisto dates back to the 15th century, while Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s tragedy was first published over 200 years ago.

In 1926, F.W. Murnau’s German-expressionist take on the tale debuted on the silver screen. A century on, viewers remain entranced with the fantastical images of Faust, Mephisto, demons riding skeletal steeds through the heavens, and more, created using cutting-edge practical effects for the time.

Just in time for Halloween, Montreal-based avant-goth duo Tall Shadows will bring Murnau’s Faust to the Park Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 28, performing an original score in celebration of the classic silent film’s 100th anniversary.

“The central meaning and interpretation of the film is quite timeless,” says Woes Fairbairn, composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist in Tall Shadows. “Esthetically, I love the gothic elements of the first act. They’re so impressive and analogue. It’s a surprisingly captivating in a visual way for its time. Some of the practical effects are very impressive. It’s a beautiful film, it’s dark, it’s gothic, it’s scary, but it’s beautiful as well.”

The fact the film is celebrating its centenary this year is not lost on Tall Shadows.

“I think it’s interesting to think that everyone involved in it is gone,” Fairbairn says. “But they made this eerie, timeless work of cinema.”

Fairbairn is the driving force behind Tall Shadows, a project that has been active for the past eight years, playing an electric violin and singing live. Christine Sedge plays analogue Prophet 12 and Korg MS20 synthesizers and they both use analogue Roland samplers to create the electronic gothic sound the band has become known for.

“I don’t use computers in sound processing, so it’s all done live with hardware,” Fairbairn says. “In these films, the equipment is so naturally saturated, my approach with the live processing and saturation really lends itself well. It blends very organically with the film.”

While traditionally, scores for silent films were either improvised by the accompanist(s) or made liberal use of existing works that fit the mood or the action on screen, Fairbairn tries to bridge those two worlds while writing a score that can be performed in the same fashion for each screening.

“There are a number of pieces that I play on the violin where I took a motif and tried to analyze them for how they work in the arc of the piece, then recreated it with a harmony that is more contemporary, which suits our sound,” Fairbairn says. “Portions of this score sound kind of like a classical work in the vein of Bach. It’s quite a baroque film, so I thought that worked quite well. And there are more portions that are sound design and drone. There is a bit of voice, but more as a texture.”

While local audiences are regularly treated to screenings of blockbuster films whose scores are performed live at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s Night at the Movies Series, which most recently included the Bond film Skyfall (next up is The Addams Family on Oct. 30 and 31), it is rare for cinephiles to be treated to an original live score to a classic of the silent era.

“It’s a lot of work,” Fairbairn admits, noting the score for Faust took eight months to compose. “I work on it quite a lot. This one, in particular, I’m putting a lot of details in.”

Love You To Death, a collective of local musicians, most recently put together an evening of live music to selections of classic horror films for Valentine’s Day in 2023.

“It’s a way to bring back the old films that people may never have seen before, or were fans of,” says Joey Senft, a local photographer and musician who is part of the collective. “We did a couple, like King Kong, Bride of Frankenstein and Creature from the Black Lagoon.”

“I think it helps people relate to these old works of cinema,” Fairbairn agrees. “I think it can make it more clear what film scores have in effect on your experience of visual media and how these two things interface. I think it’s a bit like peeking behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz. You can almost see the creative process in a way that you wouldn’t get just with a live show.”

While Tall Shadows is on tour screening and performing its score for Faust, which runs 106 minutes, in eight cities across Canada this October, the band is also playing more traditional gigs, such as the show this evening at This Must Be the Place in Osborne Village, alongside locals French Class and Jort.

“On our way out we’re doing a band show, more industrial electronic,” Fairbairn says, adding that, while goth, Tall Shadows’s sound is not quite so easy to pin down. “I think it appeals to a lot of different types of people. There are portions of the set with a neo-classical sound with harmony. But there are portions that are quite industrial, kind of like Skinny Puppy, with vocals. I go for impact and emotional intensity. It’s quite dark, but I wouldn’t say it’s a misanthropic act.”

Not only does performing two vastly different shows allow for the duo to flex both their musical muscles, but also cover costs in a live music landscape that is increasingly difficult for bands to make ends meet. Last autumn, Tall Shadows toured Canada in a similar fashion, performing an original score to Häxan, a silent Swedish-Danish horror from 1922 directed by Benjamin Christensen.

“I would say the style of the band does inform the score(s) somewhat, but not completely,” Fairbairn says. “I’m using a lot of the same electronic processing techniques, but it’s less song structure. I start with the parts (in the films) that are more emotionally resonant with me. I use those as the main themes of the work. I modulate them across, and I try to add a sonic element that blends seamlessly with what’s happening on the screen.”

sheldon.birnie@winnipegfreepress.com

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