The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra (2023-24)
1111 / 1110 / 1perc. / strings
13’30”
Program Note:
This music is intended as a film score to the silent movie The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra (1928), written and co-directed by Robert Florey and Slavko Vorkapíc. The film depicts the misfortune of a man who arrives in Hollywood with dreams of being a star. Instead, his life begins to take increasingly demoralizing, dehumanizing, and delirious turns. Florey and Vorkapíc created their opus on a shoestring budget, and ingeniously employed lighting, various office objects, paper cutouts, and assembled toys to maximal effect. The movie's sarcastic and expressionist tone strongly resonated with me.
Performances:
Jason Thorpe Buchanan and the Switch~ Ensemble, Baird Recital Hall, Buffalo, New York, June 13, 2024.
Kevin Fitzgerald and musicians of the Shepherd School of Music, Wortham Theater, Houston, Texas, March 19, 2024.
Agata Zajac, New Fromm Players, Linde Center Studio E, Lenox, Massachusetts, July 30, 2023.