Three of Neil Brand's silent film scores are being premiered in live screenings the UK and Germany in the early part of this year.

 

His new score to the 1919 silent film documentary South – Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Glorious Epic of the Antarctic premiered at the BFI IMAX in in London on 27 January.

 

The 6-piece chamber ensemble score was performed live by Covent Garden Sinfonia conducted by Ben Palmer. It was released on DVD in a digitally remastered version the following day. 

 

2022 marks the centenary of Shackleton’s death. The 80-minute film's astonishing footage was captured by Frank Herley on the historic 1914-16 expedition, during the which the ship 'Endurance' was crushed by pack ice, stranding the crew and leading to Shackleton and a handful of others journeying 800 miles in a small dinghy to fetch help.  

 

Brand’s orchestral score to the 1922 Douglas Fairbanks silent classic, Robin Hood, received its German premiere with three performances in Nürnberg's Kongresshalle on January 21-23. Adrian Prabava conducted the Nürnberger Symphoniker. The 133-minute score was originally commissioned and premiered by BBC Symphony Orchestra and Timothy Brock in 2016.

 

And on 6 March, the premiere of the new version of Brand’s score to the 1922 Jackie Coogan and Lon Chaney silent, Oliver Twist, takes place in the Brighton Dome. The original 10-player version (which is also available) has been rescored for 12 players (an addition of two percussionists).  The new version of the 74-minute classic will be conducted by Joanna MacGregor with the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra. Coogan (as Oliver) and Chaney (as Fagin) were both at the height of their careers when this adaptation of the Dickens classic was filmed.