The pianist beside the screen

An original imagined interview with a musician accompanying a silent film.

What do you watch while you play?

The screen, certainly, but I also watch the room. A familiar comic moment can land differently with each audience. The film keeps its own sequence; the people receiving it are new every evening. I try to sit between those two kinds of time.

Do you try to make every action into a sound?

If I chase every footstep, the music begins wearing the actors' shoes. I would rather notice where a scene is going than decorate every small movement on the way. Sometimes a pause gives the image more room than another confident chord.

What is the most tempting mistake?

Being pleased with a phrase. I can hear myself thinking: that was rather good. The danger is that I then repeat it while the film has quietly left the scene. It is an odd form of vanity to make somebody else's chase wait for your favourite little tune.

What makes a satisfying evening?

A listener once told me that they had forgotten I was there, then apologised as though they had failed to compliment me. I understood what they meant. The piano had become part of how the film moved for them. Of course I enjoy being heard. I also enjoy hearing the audience laugh at a moment which did not need to stop and introduce the musician.

Examine the methods used to present the musician’s approach to accompanying a film.