To celebrate International Music Day (24 June), the Alliance Française de Singapour organised a Ciné-Concert performed and presented by a collective led by YST viola major Mervin Wong (BMus Year 4). The collective – consisting of Tsumugu Misugi (Violin), Mervin Wong (Viola) and Nat Ng (Piano) – performed original music composed by Mervin Wong to accompany three movies: Le Mélomane, by Georges Méliès (1903), Doggone Tired, by Tex Avery (1949), and The Haunted House, by Buster Keaton (1921). The performance took place on Saturday 24 June 2017, 5.45pm at Alliance Française de Singapour.

“We wanted to create a refreshing take on these movies, in a way that does not look to the past, but presents them in a new light,” Mervin says. “The three films are all pivotal works in the genre, Le Mélomane, Méliès (1903) represents the era of the birth of cinema with its French origins. Keaton’s The Haunted House (1921) portrays the development of the genre; here we see more ‘special effects’ and tricks. Doggone Tired, by Tex Avery (1949) displays the advent of colour film and animation, as well as the development of the film music and sound industry, where original soundtracks as well as sound effects, and voice overs were being employed.”

“Composing music to these three films is a challenge because I have to score new music that is capable of bringing out what is happening on picture that has been created literally in a previous century. The Méilès and the Keaton both have a witty undertone to them, but this is exploited more with the backdrop of the early 30s industrial America in Keaton’s The Haunted House. With Avery’s Doggone Tired, we have decided to present it as a silent movie, and re create an original score to the playful animation.”