Collage to the original music.
A production of the European Filmphilharmonic Institute.
“The music was important to make the dream complete,” says Fernando Carmena, Creative Director of the European Filmphilharmonic Institute and responsible film editor of the newly created 50-minute film adaptation of the monumental film KING KONG (USA, 1933). For the Frankfurt Focus Festival, the original 100 minutes of Max Steiner’s original music were rewritten into a “film symphony”. Stefan Behrisch orchestrated and arranged the score based on Max Steiner’s handwritten manuscripts.
The extension to a double orchestral apparatus underlines the tonal overwhelming aesthetic of a Max Steiner who created a milestone in film music with KING KONG. He experimented with the method of “underscoring” developed by him, which made it possible to underlay a film almost continuously with music – even during spoken dialogues. His innovative musical approach, with both brutal and sentimental echoes, can still be felt today in the fantasy scores of John Williams and Danny Elfman. Why is his influence so imperishable? Steiner not only helped to transform a stop-motion doll into a 20-metre full-blooded monster monkey, but also triggered real feelings of love and adventure. The illusion was frightening.
The performance of this “King Kong” version gives the organizer a free hand. The work can and should be related programmatically. Especially combined with the Viennese composer colleagues Franz Schreker and Erich Wolfgang Korngold to a meaningful and evening-filling program, the work of Max Steiner shows its musical provenance and creative power.
Original film: KING KONG, USA 1933, R: Marian C. Cooper, Ernst B. Schoedsack
Concept, research & editing of the short version: Fernando Carmena
Arrangement and orchestration: Stefan Behrisch
Based on Max Steiner’s handwritten Particell.
image © DFF / Beta Film GmbH
