'30 Ukrainian film "Earth," composer Ovchinnikov, etc.

[harlo at mindspring.com]

Dear Colleagues,

In regard to the questions about the score for "Earth."

The Alloy Orchestra has created and recorded new musical scores for a
number of Soviet film classics in recent years, including "Earth."  I don't
have the 2003 DVD available, but I think it may have the Alloy Orchestra
score on it, these have been added to several other releases in recent
years.  Especially since "brassy" is exactly the way the Alloy Orchestra
scores sound--they are largely improvised, using a large array of brass and
percussion, by a small ensemble of performers.  They also did a score for
"Man With a Movie Camera."

Prof.Harlow Robinson
Northeastern University






> [Original Message]
> From: Prof Steven P Hill <s-hill4 at UIUC.EDU>
> To: <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU>
> Date: 2/6/2006 3:11:08 AM
> Subject: [SEELANGS] '30 Ukrainian film "Earth," composer Ovchinnikov, etc.
>
> Dear colleagues and Prof Mills:
>
> Dovzhenko's film "Earth" ("Zemlia/Zemlya") in its 1930 Ukrainian original
was released 
> without a sound track.  (The USSR didn't have sound-recording equipment
suitable for 
> feature-length fictional films until a year or so later; see Kozintsev's
"Alone" and Ekk's 
> "Road to Life.")
>
> In the USSR in 1971, "Earth" was restored as a sound film, with a music
track composed 
> by Viacheslav (Vyacheslav) Ovchinnikov.  (Blue link to Ovchinnikov
attached below.***)  
> Evidently Dovzhenko's original negative had been lost in the USSR during
WW2, and  
> the only complete (or nearly complete) film copy that the Soviets could
find, to use as 
> a source for their '71 restoration,  was a used,  somewhat worn &
scratched,  circulation 
> copy of this classic.  (A bit like a book publisher having lost the
printing plates of a 
> great novel, finding only one complete but well-used copy in a library,
and relying on 
> a xerox copy from that one used copy, to put the novel back into print
again.  Better 
> some copy than no copy...) 
>
>    ***   http://home.wanadoo.nl/ovar/ovchin.htm 
>
>  In 1975 the U.S. company "Blackhawk Films" (a.k.a. Eastin-Phelan Corp.),
managed by 
> David Shepard, then as now an outstanding collector and restorer of rare
film classics, 
> got a copy of the USSR's restored "Earth" and  asked me to translate the
Russian [not 
> Ukrainian] intertitles to English and to write an introduction to the
film.  Which I did 
> 30 years ago, and Blackhawk Films  put "Earth" into American circulation,
complete 
> with the 1971 Soviet music track.  (My name appeared in the credits as
translator.)  
> At this moment I don't have handy the "Kino" DVD version (2003), but
since Mr 
> Shepard has contributed a number of restored filmic gems to "Kino's"
available 
> inventory on video & DVD, it's not unlikely  that "Kino" offers on DVD
the '75 
> "Blackhawk" version, which in its turn came from the '71 Soviet
restoration.  So 
> perhaps the current music track, about which Prof Mills inquires, came
from the 
> same source. 
>
> Best wishes to all,
> Steven P. Hill,
> University of Illinois.
> _ __ __ __ _ __ __ __ __ 
>
> Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 01:22:01 
> From: <LISTSERV at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU> 
> Subject: Re: GETPOST SEELANGS 
> To: Steven Hill <S-HILL4 at UIUC.EDU> 
>
> Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 16:10:50 -0600
> From: Mills Charles <cmills at KNOX.EDU> 
> Subject: Dovzhenko's "Earth" 
>
> A silly question: 
> My copy of Dovzhenko's "Earth" on DVD (Kino, 2003, a triple feature, with
"The 
> End of St Petersburg" and "Chess Fever") has a brassy sound track that I 
> assume was not present in the original silent film.  Steven Hill (or
anyone else), 
> can you comment on the provenance of the sound track?  Many thanks in 
> advance! 
> C. Mills 
> _ __ __ __ __ __ _ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ __ __ __ __ _
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