Maud Nelissen - composER AND pianIST

Maud Nelissen studied with Herman Uhlhorn at the Utrecht Superior School of Music, and graduated with honours. She is a concert pianist, chamber music player and film accompanist. In recent years she has devoted more and more time to composing. In 1999 she worked with Charlie Chaplin's own pianist and arranger Eric James in Italy . He called her a” fantastic pianist.
For the music she wrote for a Film in Concert Foundation silent comedy program she founded filmorchestra “The Sprockets" and made successful tours with them, which are extended each season with a new programme.
In her own scores Maud Nelissen respects the original 1910's and 20's styles but develops and blends these with her own modern inventions. Commissioned by Film in Concert she composed a very successful orchestral score for "The Patsy" with Marion Davies. In 2006 Maud gave a series of sell-out film concerts at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam including Chaplin (the Rink, Easy Street, the Cure).
In February 2008 Maud performed and conducted at the Komische Oper, Berlin. Here she brought, with permission of the Franz Léhar Estate, her score for “The Merry Widow” of Erich von Stroheim. The score is written for a chamber orchestra and is partly based on the music of Franz Léhar and partly on Maud Nelissen’s own music. In April 2008 The Merry Widow was also performed at The Concertgebouw Amsterdam. In April 2008 Maud Nelissen and The Sprockets had a very inspiring musical collaboration with the great animator Richard Williams, for the genial Logo he created. In September 2008 Maud made her American debut at the Telluride Film Festival Colorado.The Merry Widow was the openingsshow of the Pordenone Silent Filmfestival 2009 (Italy). In 2010 Maud will compose the music for "The Bloodcountess" (Ulrike Ottinger) with Tilda Swinton and Isabelle Hupert. For Maud's complete biography as Word-document, click HERE.

 

 

Silent Film Music Productions by Maud Nelissen

Various Groups >

Orchestra da Camera Oscura >

Sprockets >

Special Productions >

In Preparation (for the Sprockets) >

 

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The Patsy (King Vidor, 1928) - Orchestra Da Camera Oscura

The Merry Widow (Erich von Stroheim, 1925) - Orchestra Da Camera Oscura

Laurel & Hardy: Liberty (Hal Roach, 1929) - Sprockets

Terug naar de Toekomst - Sprockets

Onésime et le coeur du tzigane (Gaumont, 1913) - Sprockets

Marion Davies (The Patsy)

 

At the beginning of the last century every self-respecting cinema had its own (small) orchestra to accompany the movie(s) shown and to provide musical intermission. These ensembles were assembled by pianist or organist who also acted as the ensembles leader. These musicians were held in high regard as they were first-class musicians, accomplished in several instruments with expert improvisational skills. Maud Nelissen has assembled five outstanding musicians around her out of her inspiration for this musical tradition.

These six musicians form The Sprockets. The music they perform is composed and arranged by Ms. Nelissen for specific movies and shows. She anticipates every situation and every character on the screen with a fitting or fittingly ironic sound whereby the expressiveness or eloquence of the scene is underscored. The Sprockets have touched the public through their enthusiasm and virtuoso performances in past seasons. Their performances are celebrations for young and old alike. Click HERE to see photos.

Frido ter Beek > Daphne Balvers > Marco Ludemann > Rombout Stoffers > Jasper Somsen > Maud Nelissen

 

Invited by the Kinemathek Asta Nielsen in Frankfurt Maud Nelissen has written music for 2 early films with the famous silent star Asta Nielsen:
"Der Fremde Vogel" (1911) and "Zapata’s Bande" (1914). These films were successfully shown in April 2007 at the openingnight of the Asta Nielsen Retrospective at the Schauspielhaus Frankfurt and were  accompanied by The Asta Harmonists conducted by Maud Nelissen.

In 2008 and 2009 the retrospective will take place at various locations throughout Europe but had it’s first screening in March 2008 in Berlin.

Asta Harmonists: Merima Kljuco - Accordeon, Marco Ludemann - Mandolin, Jasper Somsen - bass, Rombout Stoffers - Percussion, ... - Violin, Maud Nelissen - Piano and Composition

Click HERE to see photos

 

The Orchestra da Camera Oscura (ten musicians) was brought together in 2005 by Theodore van Houten to accompany the breathtaking comedy The Patsy and was inspiringly conducted by the  British conductor Mark Fitz-Gerald. Maud Nelissen wrote the music for the Patsy. The mixed line-up of strings and brass gives the ensemble enough flexibility to play any genre of film.

The Merry Widow >

The Orchestra da Camera Oscura has accompanied in April 2008 at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam the unique film The Merry Widow (1925) by the famous Austrian director  Erich von Stroheim. The musical score is partly based on the unforgettable melodies of Franz Léhar (with courtesy of the Léhar Estate) as well as Maud Nelissen’s own music.

The Plot: the flamboyant Prince Danilo falls in love with the American dancer Sally O’Hara. His plans are stopped by his wicked brother Crown Prince Mirko. When the wealthy Baron Sadoja also shows interest in Sally, Prince Mirko puts the honour of his country first and sais: “Never ever marry a working class girl!”

In von Stroheims film the director gives the operetta a personal twist. He despises the decadence of the aristocracy. Spectacular entertainment and biting satire are the ingredients of this seldom shown tragic-comedy. Von Stroheims version takes an analytically sarcastic view of status, money and eroticism and reveals their essence brilliantly.

 

 

Erich von Stroheims 'Merry Widow' in Amsterdam Pure Magic

Der Film insgesamt ist voller magic moments, zum Beispiel die berühmte Walzerszene zwischen Murray/Gilbert, ihr Auftritt als neureiche Witwe in Paris, mit Diamanten und Federn behangen, aber auch die erschütternde Szene, wo die kleine Jazztänzerin von Danilo verlassen wird und er sie am Tag der geplanten Hochzeit sitzen lässt. Das alles – und noch viel mehr – fängt Stroheim auf faszinierende Weise ein; es sind Bilder, die man nicht so schnell wieder vergisst . Maud Nelissen ist das Kunststück gelungen, diese magic moments durch ihre Musik noch einprägsamer zu machen. Und dafür kann man sie nicht genug loben.

(by Kevin Clarke in: Magazin.Classic.Com. Click here for more...)

Read the review on www.fest21.com

Extract programm notes for Pordenone Silent Film Festival 2005 " The Music of Comedy" - played by The Sprockets, written by David Robinson.

Onésime et le coeur du tzigane ( Gaumont Fr 1913): "Maud Nelissen’s skilful contrast of the salon style with fiendish gypsy strains provides a rich counterpoint and reveals a new, inner structure to the images. The music and the images become one and the same, culminating in the magical diminuendo into natural sound that discovers the authentic mystery and magic of the film’s finale."

Un Locataire Diabolique (Georges Méliès Fr 1909): "Maud Nelissen’s music performs its own magic, elevating Méliès from the studiously revered technical master of an archaic cinema, to reveal him anew as the brilliant entertainer that his contemporaries saw, still as able to provoke his audience to fresh and unabashed laughter."

Liberty (Hal Roach,US 1929): "At one extreme Laurel & Hardy out-class Harold Lloyd in thrill comedy; at the other the reactions of the strangers who chance upon their clothes-switching hint at a psycho-sexual sophistication far beyond the fantasies of the Hays Office. The music of Maud Nelissen and The Sprockets miraculously keeps pace with it all." (Click here to read more)

 

 

PALMCITY PRODUCTIONS >

Patrimoniumweg 12
3941 BT Doorn, The Netherlands
mail: nelissen@freeler.nl

 

 

 

 

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