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The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

by Geoff Smith

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    'The Cabinet of Dr Caligari' by Geoff Smith also includes nine bonus items: four live tour posters from the archive, an informative pdf about the soundtrack and the film and four photographs of the hammered dulcimers that were used for the composition, performances and recording.
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THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI.
FILM SOUNDTRACK COMPOSED & PERFORMED BY
GEOFF SMITH.

(Soundtrack duration: 68 minutes & 16 seconds).

There is a history of cinema before ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligarii’
and a new one after it. Reactions to the film were extreme and still
are. The debate continues. There is also a history of the dulcimer and a history of the live film soundtrack before and after Geoff Smith’s score for ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’.

‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ score is the first ever feature film soundtrack that has been designed, composed, performed and recorded on specially designed hammered hammered dulcimers.

Composer, performer, orchestrator, designer, vocalist, songwriter and percussionist Geoff Smith is acknowledged both as a world-leading virtuoso and a unique innovator in composition, technique
and performance on the hammered dulcimer. He is also a pioneer in Dulcimer design.

For the performance of the score for ‘The Cabinet of
Dr. Caligari’ Geoff uses three different prototype dulcimers: (i) the microtonal ‘Fluid Dulcimer’ (ii) a fully chromatic dulcimer with a unique tuning layout (iii) a customised diatonic dulcimer with an extended bass section.The Fluid Dulcimer incorporates ‘Fluid Tuning’ mechanisms which enable adjustable microtonal tuning on each note individually and separately.

The hammered dulcimer is an ancient percussion instrument struck by small wooden hammers, sticks or mallets. The largest dulcimers have well over 100 strings. Many countries country have their own indigenous dulcimer which peculiarly reflects the country's culture -
England, Scotland, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Iran, Iraq, India, Germany, Egypt, Tibet, China, Korea, Mexico and so on. Some regions within countries also have their own distinctive dulcimer. Furthermore, it is an interesting historical fact that some countries do not have an indigenous dulcimer.

‘The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari’ soundtrack by Geoff Smith was composed to the original tinted print with German expressionist captions. Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles and Fritz Lang (who was originally approached to direct ‘Caligari’) were greatly influenced by the film’s combination of psychology, fairground, fantasy, expressionism, delusion, murder and somnambulism.

This tale of hypnosis, powerlessness, murder and insanity can be seen as a metaphor for a new cinema itself: The spectator’s helpless horror in the face of unfolding narrative and the revelation of their own deep buried desires. It is the first work of the Cinema of the Subconscious. After 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ modern cinema could begin.

Geoff Smith’s score for ‘Caligari’ is a revelation, and breaks new ground in the composition and performance of live music for film. For the first time 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’, a widely recognised classic of world cinema, has a musical soundtrack worthy of its place in the history of film. His immensely dynamic score intimately relates to the emotional and psychological depth and intensity of the film’s narrative and plot.


Media Reviews

“The musical equivalent of splitting the atom” The Guardian

“ The Hammered Dulcimer has been waiting for someone like Geoff Smith to come along” Fiona Talkington, BBC Radio 3

“Smith is a virtuoso percussionist who has revolutionised the Dulcimer” The Sunday Times

“It’s a tribute to Smith that his music was able to bring this wonderful movie to life” The Financial Times

“This isn’t just an innovative soundtrack, as its echoes positively enhance the melancholic and menacing moods of this intense psychological masterpiece” BBC Radio Times

“When Murnau released his version of Goethe’s ‘Faust’ he probably couldn’t have imagined such a widely atmospheric soundtrack as that which composer and performer Geoff Smith has created. Murnau would undoubtedly however, have been very pleased” The Scotsman *****

“A fascinating combination of disturbing images and otherworldly sounds which yanks the tradition of silent movie accompaniment spectacularly back to the future” The Sunday Times

“Caligari’s protagonists convey a barely suppressed horror, which Smith’s eerie and exotic score perfectly complements” The Wire

“Like the famous Roy Budd theme for ‘Get Carter’, or the zither music from ‘The Third Man’ but stripped down and fed through a haunted house, the music draws peculiar textures and angularities of the story with real precision” The Big Issue

credits

released May 29, 2020

Composed & performed by Geoff Smith on multiple prototype hammered dulcimers & vocals.

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Geoff Smith Brighton, UK

Composer, performer, songwriter, vocalist & inventor Geoff Smith is acknowledged as a world-leading virtuoso and a unique innovator & pioneer in composition, technique and performance on the Hammered Dulcimer. His albums comprise songs, instrumentals & film soundtracks. He is the inventor of both the Fluid Piano & Fluid Dulcimer.

“The musical equivalent of splitting the atom” The Guardian
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