Wurlitza have been performing live music soundtracks to silent films since 2006.

Our scores are very carefully choreographed to fit the mood of every part of the film - requiring time keeping accurate to the second. The repertoire used is wide ranging from jazz and blues to classical pieces to modern anthems and some of our own compositions.

Each film is a culmination of two years of painstaking detail. It would be fair to say our approach is different to other soundtracks. We offer a new experience by accompanying films with a mixture of jazz, classical and contemporary popular music, both instrumental and sung, thereby bridging the distance between the 1920’s and the current day.

We have performed film soundtracks live at Glastonbury Festival, Blackpool Film Festival, Plymouth Arts Centre, Cornwall Film Festival, The Electric Palace, Bridport, Port Eliot Festival, Cornwall University, the Barbican Theatre, Plymouth, St Ives September Festival in Cornwall and many other venues.

We are lucky to have the support of Downderry Film Kitchen, who provide a screen and projector for performances in smaller venues that do not have their own equipment. This allows us the flexibility to perform in any venue large enough to accommodate a 3x4m screen.

We currently have four films on offer, all very different. Our latest is Anthony Asquith’s A Cottage on Dartmoor. There is the beautiful and exotic Piccadilly by EA Dupont, the timeless, action packed movie Sunrise by FW Murnau and GW Pabst’s fresh and powerful Diary of a Lost Girl.

Said to “Out-Hitchcock Hitchcock”, Anthony Asquith’s A Cottage on Dartmoor uses every cinematic technical trick available to create a story of jealousy and suspense. It is a snapshot on the rise of early talking films, cleverly woven into a plot that involves an escaped convict, a love triangle and, naturally, hairdressing.

Starring Swedish actor Uno Henning as Joe, we follow his escape from Dartmoor Prison and through a series of flashbacks, his interactions with Sally (Norah Baring) and Harry (Hans Adalbert Schlettow).

A Cottage on Dartmoor is much more than just about love and hairdressing. It is a history of the biggest change to hit the film industry since it began; the new "talkies". Everyone is talking about them. And so with the trim of scissors come tales from the cinema and topical subjects of the time. The talkies certainly did bring big changes; directors could no longer use multi-lingual international casts as Asquith does in A Cottage On Dartmoor. Asquith shows off his technical artistry in with rapid montages and carefully framed images. Watch out for the flash of colour!

Repertoire for the soundtrack of A Cottage on Dartmoor includes music by Villa Lobos, Serge Gainsbourg, Right Said Fred, Clearwater Credence Revival, Buddy Holly, Chopin and Louis Armstrong.

Diary of a Lost Girl

New for 2014, after two years in the making, is Wurlitza’s soundtrack for GW Pabst’s 1929 movie Diary of a Lost Girl.

Diary of a Lost Girl was made in Germany at a time of great artistic freedom. Fast moving and at times shocking, Diary of a Lost Girl traces the story of Thymian, played by the mesmerising screen idol Louise Brookes, as her life yoyos between episodes of lightness and innocence, darkness and despair. Moments of great comedy involve life in a reform school for fallen girls headed by a villainous nun, and a modern dance lesson with an incompetent buffoon. This gripping film defies convention, confounding expectations as joy and compassion are found in the most unlikely places.

Repertoire for the soundtrack of Diary of a Lost Girl includes music by Django Reinhardt, Fun Boy Three, Portishead, Wire, Chopin and Leonard Cohen.

Diary of a Lost Girl has been very well received in venues throughout Cornwall and Devon. We’ve celebrated the film by making a soundtrack which can be enjoyed on Soundcloud and Spotify.

"The music was expertly chosen to run seamlessly with the film. It enhanced the experience. It reflected mood and added nuance. The musicianship was excellent. The performance fitted superbly with the images...Why does Wurlitza work? Because they bring magic. And that is never a bad thing." - Ian Craft ‐ Calstock Arts



Sunrise

“This song of the man and his wife is of no-place and everyplace: you might hear it anywhere at anytime. For wherever the sun rises and sets…in the city’s turmoil or under the open sky on the farm, life is much the same, sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet.” So begins F.W. Murnau’s astonishing film. It is one of the most moving stories ever told on film. Labelled simply ‘The Man’ (George O Brien) and ‘The Wife’ (Janet Gaynor) the protagonists embark on an adventure of temptation, reconciliation, reconsecration and redemption, told with a lyrical simplicity of timelessness and universality.

Sunrise is silent film at its most poetic. Made with an unlimited budget it uses an amazing array of cinematic touches, with a plot that keeps the audience transfixed. Wurlitza have added music that will be both familiar and unfamiliar, from Bach and Villa Lobas to Talking Heads, Echo and the Bunnymen, Madness and the Vapors, as well as some of our own. This is a truly unique and memorable experience, and great for all ages.

Reviews and Comments from our Sunrise Shows:

Reviews and Comments from our Piccadilly Shows: