Sarah Angliss
For:
Vault - part of BFI Gothic Season
Event venue:
BFI, London; Boscombe Manor, Bournemouth; Cottiers, Glasgow
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Vault is a compelling and uncanny (Unheimlich) musical happening, in which original music, performed live in gothic revivalist buildings, breathes new life into early 20th-century silent, gothic short films.
The films are rarely seen treasures from the BFI National Archive. Films of this kind mix romance with ancient ruins, witchcraft, transfigurations and many other gothic tropes. They are the inspiration and accompaniment for Vault – a performance of electronic music, featuring Sarah’s original composition, the centrepiece of this commission. Sarah will perform Vault in a trio using theremin and other electronics, vocals, percussion and her eerie, musical automata.
Vault will be performed at the BFI Southbank, London, then in two historic gothic revivalist buildings: Boscombe Manor, Bournemouth, built for Mary Shelley in 1849 (a performance in association with Arts Bournemouth); and Cottiers, Glasgow (1865).
Just like the gothic genre in literature, Sarah’s work explores resonances between technology and European folklore. Vault fulfils her ambition to explore these themes cinematically. Like folklore and memory, archive films can sometimes seem distressed and semi-occluded—Sarah wants to create music that reflects this.
Vault will be performed alongside film music from other electronic composers—details of the lineup are coming soon. Sarah hopes their combined musical efforts will bind together fine gothic films and buildings to make an unforgettable show. She wants to create an event that’s far more than the sum of its parts—an ambition that can only be realised through this partnership between musicians, PRSF and the BFI.