Founded in 2003 and based in St. Louis, the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra is an orchestral ensemble of emerging composers and musicians. The R&P MPO composes and performs original scores to accompany films of the Silent Era, and composes and records soundtracks for contemporary films. The ensemble consists of a string section, a brass section, piano, and percussion. Informed by classical and contemporary sources alike, the R&P MPO's forays into noise, folk and psychedelia are tempered by a melodic sensibility rooted firmly in the Romantics.
Silent Era Film Scoring and Accompaniment
Employing a perspective that films of the Silent Era are not dusty museum pieces but rather vital and urgently relevant works of art, the R&P MPO's compositional ethic avoids the styles that dominated early film accompaniment - often the popular tunes of the time - in observance of the hundred years or so of popular music that have since shaped the contemporary ear. The hope is that the realization of this compositional ethic will build toward an ultimate goal: to draw greater and more diverse audiences to the singularly strange and beautiful medium of silent film. Examples of the R&P MPO's Silent Era accompanying scores include:
Buster Keaton's Go West (1925) (69 minutes), Original score premiere for the Webster University Film Series' "Completely Keaton," 2007
F.W. Murnau's The Last Laugh (1924) (101 minutes), Original score premiere for the Webster University Film Series' "Wild Wild Weimar," 2008
Buster Keaton's The High Sign (1921) (21 minutes), Original score premiere in St. Louis, 2008
Sergei Eisenstein's Strike (1925) (82 minutes), Original score premiere for the Webster University Film Series' "Kino Pravda," 2009
F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922) (94 minutes), Original score premiere for Vanderbilt University's International Lens Film Series, 2009
Benjamin Christensen's Häxan (1922) (104 minutes), Original score premiere for the St. Louis International Film Festival, 2010
Contemporary Film Soundtrack Composition and Recording
Employing a compositional ethic similar to a doctor's Hippocratic Oath of "first do no harm," the R&P MPO's soundtrack composition and recording work seeks to support and enhance contemporary filmmakers' visions without overwhelming them. Examples of the R&P MPO's contemporary film soundtrack compositions and recordings include:
Aaron Crozier's Grumboon (2002) (xx minutes), winner of the the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase Audience Award, 2003
Doug Whyte's Silver Spurs (2007) (Documentary, xx minutes), http://www.fullmindfilms.com/spur/index.html
Chris Grega's Rhineland (2008) (xx minutes)
Cody Stokes' Heartland Transport (2009) (Documentary, xx minutes)
Rats&PeopleMPO’s tracks
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