from The Washington Post 

A Tearjerker Played With A Mod Touch 

By Joseph McLellan
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, March 13, 1998; Page C06

     It took 72 years and many revolutions in style and taste to put together the two primary elements of Wednesday night's program at the Library of   Congress: a 1924 silent movie directed by the great F.W. Murnau and the    uncompromisingly modern music that Dean Drummond composed in 1996   to accompany it.

     Murnau's film is titled "Der Letzte Mann" -- literally "The Last Man" but translated "The Last Laugh" in the program. It is a sentimental melodrama that trades heavily on the expressive face, eyes and body language of Emil Jannings, the lordly Hotel Atlantic doorman, a colossus who braves all kinds of weather, stops taxis with his whistle and carries heavy trunks as though they were feathers. Old age catches up with him: He cannot do his job anymore and he is demoted to a men's room attendant who scrubs the      floor, shines shoes and hands towels to snobbish, demanding customers.     This is a humiliation not only for him but also for his family, whose social   status depends on his profession. He tries to conceal his demotion but is
found out and, in a harrowing scene, becomes the laughingstock of the    neighborhood. But it ends well when, in a sudden turn of fortune, an     unexpected inheritance makes him a millionaire.

     For this old-fashioned, heart-on-sleeve tearjerker, Drummond has        concocted music that is not only atonal but microtonal; music that finds       expressive power in the spaces between, for example, B and B-flat. And    to play it, he uses not only the old, familiar flute, trumpet, cello and           synthesizer, but also instruments that have -- and live up to -- such names  such as "boo," "chromelodeon," "zoomoozophone," "spoils of war" and         "kithara." Many are the work of Harry Partch, a composer who invented       them between 1930 and 1974 to get precisely the sound he wanted.        Others were invented by Drummond, who has inherited custody of       Partch's instruments and works in the Partch tradition. Considering that it is  new music on old instruments, it is remarkable how well it worked -- in         relation to the film and in the interaction among members of Drummond's    orchestra, Newband.

     Drummond's music is richly emotional and deeply expressive -- above all when the emotions being expressed are rage, anguish, humiliation and         despair, as they are in most of the film. But he also manages to convey a    kind of hectic gaiety when it is needed, particularly at the film's happy end.

     The program opened with the world premiere of Drummond's "Mars 
Face" for violin (Jacqui Carrasco) and synthesizer (Christopher Oldfather)  
--- also music that finds considerable emotional power in what would be    cracks on a piano keyboard. It worked beautifully, even without a film to    distract the audience from the fact that it was being bombarded with       microtones. Drummond may be opening a new world to people who had       thought they would never like that kind of music.

© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

from Juxtaposition Ezine

The Last Laugh
by Dean Drummond
performed by Newband

March 14, 1998
The Kitchen
512 West 19th Street
New York, N.Y. 10011

     Last night, Dean Drummond and his group Newband gave the New York premiere, at the Kitchen, of the classic German silent film "The Last Laugh" accompanied by his new score . The movie was filmed in 1924, directed by F. W. Murnau, and stars Emil Jannings as a hotel porter.  Influenced by German expressionist art and film styles of the period, it is remarkable in that it eschews the use of printed language in title-boards (with two unavoidable exceptions), relying, to carry the story along, on what many of us modern-day viewers reacted to as overacting. In keeping with its 
emphasis on non-verbal visuals, the film also features many extraordinary and innovative camera shots, angles, and effects: among the most notable are the opening shot, taken from inside a descending glass elevator and 
looking out on the hotel lobby; one shot done out in the street where the entire hotel building hovers over Jannings as though about to fall on him (portraying his highly emotionally-charged state of mind at the time); and one where a neighbor's face appears grotesquely stretched and distorted as seen through Jannings' hung-over eyes. 

     In brief, the movie portrays Jannings as an old man who exudes dignity and respect in his job as a doorman at the Hotel Atlantic. He parades proudly through his neighborhood in his extravagant uniform each evening after work. In a side story, his daughter gets married, and this happy 
occasion provides both the rationale for a very well-executed (and funny) drunken scene, and a poignant contrast to the dismal events about to come. Jannings' character has become too old and tired to carry the heavy baggage of the hotel's guests, so eventually he gets demoted to men's
washroom attendant (the notice he reads is the first title board used in the film). This is a staggering blow to him, and he hides it from everyone he knows, until his wife makes a surprise visit to bring him goodies at his job, and finds out, unbeknownst to him. After his wife discovers that he's a washroom attendant, he comes home. His new son-in-law answers the door because his wife and daughter are too ashamed of him. Soon gossip spreads the news through his whole community, and he is ridiculed
by all, family included. It seems there is nothing left for the old man to do but waste away the rest of his life, when suddenly the director surprises us with an ironic and hilarious twist near the end (announced by the second title board). Thus, the main players reap the fate sown by their respective good or bad karma. 

     Drummond's music is written for an ensemble consisting of two instruments of his own invention, a few conventional ones, and several of Harry Partch's. The Drummond instruments are tuned to a 31-tone just-intonation scale, and are the Zoomoozophone, a marimba-like mallet instrument made of aluminum tubes and producing a soft, hollow sound, and the Juststrokerods, made of solid aluminum rods and producing a clear violin-like tone. The Partch instruments (tuned to the 43-tone just-intonation scale described in his "Genesis of a Music") required in this piece are the Bass Marimba, Bloboy, Boo, Chromelodeon, Diamond Marimba, both Harmonic Canons, Kithara, and Spoils of War. The standard instruments called for in the score are flute (one player on regular and alto), trumpet, and cello. The notes played on these three instruments had to be
microtonally adjusted by the players. In addition, there was a Yahama DX-7 synthesizer, hi-hat, suspended cymbal, and several other percussion instruments. 

     The score evocatively reflects the contrasting moods of the film, particularly the drastic shift from the depths of the Porter's
humiliation and despair to the happiness and humor of the final scene; in fact, the music was so well-fitted to this scene that I quite forgot about it as I watched the screen -- I consider this to be the best compliment a film score can receive. 

     In several places, Drummond's score provides a realistic sound for one that appears prominently on screen: in one scene the Porter blows a whistle, represented by the flute; in another, the trumpet in the orchestra gives the sound for a man blowing on a trumpet in the courtyard while the Porter gets drunk and watches from the apartment above -- the microtonal inflections exquisitely reflected the inebriated state of Jannings' character. And in the lively scenes filmed in the street in front of the hotel and in the hotel lobby, Drummond's music is appropriately effervescent. Here and there a few "leitmotifs" can also be recognized, and all of this is bathed in the glowing sound resulting from Drummond's brilliant orchestration of this unique ensemble. It was also very refreshing to hear Partch's instruments giving off music sounding not even remotely like his. 

     Two things I was very glad to witness post-performance: audience members were not prevented from wandering around and examining the instruments visually, and no-one from the audience abused the privilege by trying to touch anything. Drummond and the other performers also remained accessible for questions and conversation for a long time after the show, which was most welcome. 

     The movie runs well over an hour, and except for the silent opening and closing titles (I thought that was kind of unusual), the music runs continuously from the opening shot to the end, and should be considered a major piece of Drummond's. This deserves to be released on video. 

Joe Monzo 
Juxtaposition Ezine