BATTLESHIP POTEMPKIN w/ Pipe Organ Score by Jeff Rapsis!
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Experience one of the most renowned films in the history of cinema with a dynamic live score performed on our historic pipe organ! Over a century after its release, Sergei Eisenstein's masterpiece endures as a thought-provoking and powerful mediation on propaganda, military service, and war.
SERGEI EISENSTEIN'S BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925, 69 mins).
Odessa - 1905. Enraged with the deplorable conditions on board the armored cruiser Potemkin, the ship's loyal crew contemplates the unthinkable - mutiny. Seizing control of the Potemkin and raising the red flag of revolution, the sailors' revolt becomes the rallying point for a Russian populace ground under the boot heels of the Czar's Cossacks. When ruthless White Russian cavalry arrives to crush the rebellion on the sandstone Odessa Steps, the most famous and most quoted film sequence in cinema history is born. Judged as propaganda, a work of incomparable clarity of focus and sledgehammer force—Judged as art: a model of cinematic dynamism that has posed a challenge to everyone who has attempted to follow in its path. For eight decades, Sergei Eisenstein's revolutionary film about mutiny aboard a Russian warship stands as one of the top achievements of early cinema. Today, more than a century later, it endures as a thought-provoking mediation on propaganda, military service, and war. Yet each successive generation has seen BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN subjected to censorship and recutting, its unforgettable power diluted in unauthorized public domain editions from dubious sources. Until now! Dozens of missing shots have been replaced, and all 146 title cards restored to Eisenstein's specifications. returns the silent masterwork to a form as close to its creator's bold vision as has been seen since the film's triumphant 1925 Moscow premiere.
The Live Pipe Organ Performance:
Jeff Rapsis lives in Bedford, New Hampshire, and accompanies silent film programs in venues throughout New England. A lifelong silent film fan, he began creating original musical scores and staging silent film programs in 2007 as a way to keep the form vibrant before the public. His technique is rooted in a traditional approach and texture, while applying imporovisation using contemporary scoring methods when appropriate to connect with today's audiences. Outside New England, he has accompanied films at the New York Public Library’s “Meet the Musicmakers” series and the Kansas Silent Film Festival. Rapsis has also provided original music for several silent film DVD releases by Looser Than Loose Vintage Entertainment of Manchester, N.H., and scored the independent feature film Dangerous Crosswinds (2005). His recorded scores also include piano music for Kino Lorber's reissue of Gloria Swanson's 'Zaza' (1923) and music for Reel Classic DVD's reissue of 'The Bells' (1926) starring Lionel Barrymore and Boris Karloff. As a composer, his 'Kilimanjaro Suite' for large orchestra was premiered in 2017 by the N.H. Philharmonic. A journalist by profession, Rapsis is co-founder and associate publisher of HippoPress, a weekly newspaper based in Manchester, N.H. He also serves as executive director of the Aviation Museum of N.H., a non-profit educational center based at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. Jeff has previously performed live soundtracks on the historic Estey organ at Epsilon Spires for silent films: The Phantom Carriage, The Flying Ace, Wings, The Last Command, Buster Keaton's THE GENERAL and Our Hospitality, Douglas Fairbanks’s masterpiece, The Thief of Bagdad (1924), and Clara Bow's romantic comedy "It".
SERGEI EISENSTEIN'S BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925, 69 mins).
Odessa - 1905. Enraged with the deplorable conditions on board the armored cruiser Potemkin, the ship's loyal crew contemplates the unthinkable - mutiny. Seizing control of the Potemkin and raising the red flag of revolution, the sailors' revolt becomes the rallying point for a Russian populace ground under the boot heels of the Czar's Cossacks. When ruthless White Russian cavalry arrives to crush the rebellion on the sandstone Odessa Steps, the most famous and most quoted film sequence in cinema history is born. Judged as propaganda, a work of incomparable clarity of focus and sledgehammer force—Judged as art: a model of cinematic dynamism that has posed a challenge to everyone who has attempted to follow in its path. For eight decades, Sergei Eisenstein's revolutionary film about mutiny aboard a Russian warship stands as one of the top achievements of early cinema. Today, more than a century later, it endures as a thought-provoking mediation on propaganda, military service, and war. Yet each successive generation has seen BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN subjected to censorship and recutting, its unforgettable power diluted in unauthorized public domain editions from dubious sources. Until now! Dozens of missing shots have been replaced, and all 146 title cards restored to Eisenstein's specifications. returns the silent masterwork to a form as close to its creator's bold vision as has been seen since the film's triumphant 1925 Moscow premiere.
The Live Pipe Organ Performance:
Jeff Rapsis lives in Bedford, New Hampshire, and accompanies silent film programs in venues throughout New England. A lifelong silent film fan, he began creating original musical scores and staging silent film programs in 2007 as a way to keep the form vibrant before the public. His technique is rooted in a traditional approach and texture, while applying imporovisation using contemporary scoring methods when appropriate to connect with today's audiences. Outside New England, he has accompanied films at the New York Public Library’s “Meet the Musicmakers” series and the Kansas Silent Film Festival. Rapsis has also provided original music for several silent film DVD releases by Looser Than Loose Vintage Entertainment of Manchester, N.H., and scored the independent feature film Dangerous Crosswinds (2005). His recorded scores also include piano music for Kino Lorber's reissue of Gloria Swanson's 'Zaza' (1923) and music for Reel Classic DVD's reissue of 'The Bells' (1926) starring Lionel Barrymore and Boris Karloff. As a composer, his 'Kilimanjaro Suite' for large orchestra was premiered in 2017 by the N.H. Philharmonic. A journalist by profession, Rapsis is co-founder and associate publisher of HippoPress, a weekly newspaper based in Manchester, N.H. He also serves as executive director of the Aviation Museum of N.H., a non-profit educational center based at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. Jeff has previously performed live soundtracks on the historic Estey organ at Epsilon Spires for silent films: The Phantom Carriage, The Flying Ace, Wings, The Last Command, Buster Keaton's THE GENERAL and Our Hospitality, Douglas Fairbanks’s masterpiece, The Thief of Bagdad (1924), and Clara Bow's romantic comedy "It".
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Where is it happening?
Epsilon Spires, 190 Main St, Brattleboro, VT 05301-2837, United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherEpsilon Spires
