"When the Great Red Dawn is Shining" was composed by Evelyn Sharpe with lyrics by Edward Lockton. Published in 1917, this song is associated with the war weary soldiers of the first World War dreaming of returning home.

Unlike many of the musical compositions in our series from the silent film era, this was a wistful popular song and there are many recordings available online. This clip on YouTube puts it into context: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10153400458187507.

This all-new recording was produced by @MLucas using OMR, starting out with scans of the original theater (pit) orchestra sheet music dated 1917. The composition is presented free from the heartbreak and horrors of trench warfare, with a lighthearted theatrical sound.

Cover image from a photo by MLucas.

Public Domain, No Rights Reserved.

When the Great Red Dawn is Shining (Sharpe)

"Chanson Algerian" was composed by James C. Bradford and Hans Spialek for the 1926 film adaptation of the Percival C. Wren novel, "Beau Geste". The film was directed by Herbert Brenon. It's a French Foreign Legion yarn centered on three brothers, with the starring role played by Ronald Colman.

The sheet music used for the OMR production of this recording states that it's "from the Super-Photoplay production "Beau Geste". We don't know if it was ever actually used for this purpose. This recording is new and generally stays close to the source material, though extensive editing was required.

The cover art uses an original poster from the film hosted on Wikipedia, where a link to the whole movie is also available - alas, the soundtrack for the version available there uses various classical pieces, not the music composed for the film. The movie was a bold production, especially the scenes depicting the mounted Tuareg warriors attacking the remote French outpost over rolling barren dunes. Though clearly from another time, it remains an entertaining piece of cinema art.

Public Domain, No Rights Reserved.

Chanson Algerian (Bradford & Spialek)

Gaston Borch composed "Triste Convoi" (Melancholy Procession) in 1923. It's a powerful late romantic piece, published as #26 in Hawke's Photo Play series -- meaning it was intended for performance by a theater orchestra as accompaniment for a silent film.

This all-new recording was produced by @MLucas using OMR, starting out with scans of the original pit orchestra sheet music. My original production followed the composition structure resulting in a recording over thirteen minutes in duration. While that might be useful for a silent film, it seemed excessive for this medium, so for SoundCloud I've carefully edited the piece to a bit over six minutes. Public Resource will post the full length version on the Internet Archive at a later time. The percussion parts were re-assigned to a collection of asian and middle-eastern percussion instruments.

Other Recordings of this composition: Phillip Sear posted his piano performance of this piece on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOQa67QzMTQ

Cover art by MLucas using "Antwerp refugees fleeing to Holland" from 1914 by Bain News Service, hosted by the Library of Congress. LCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/2014703585

Public Domain, No Rights Reserved.

Triste Convoi (Gaston Borch)

Gaston Borch (French, 1871-1926) composed "Apparitions" in 1920. Both the title and the music itself suggest a supernatural visitation, but perhaps more wonderment than horror.

This all-new recording was produced by @MLucas using OMR. The OMR process starts with a digital scan of the original theater orchestra sheet music. The scans are converted into music xml using SoundSlice and then assembled into a score in a professional music notation program. The resulting score is opened as MIDI in a DAW (Logic Pro) and each part assigned a sampled sound and then edited and mixed. This recording adheres rather closely to the original scores, but inevitably considerable editing is required.

Cover art and photography by MLucas.

Public Domain, No Rights Reserved.

Apparitions (Gaston Borch)

Andante Patetico e Doloroso is a 1918 photoplay composition by Gaston Borch (French, 1871-1926). According to its subtitle, it was intended "for deep sorrow, sickness or death". It's a slow and gentle piece in the late romantic/classical orchestral style.

This all-new recording was produced by @MLucas using OMR. The OMR process starts with a digital scan of the original theater orchestra sheet music. The scans are converted into music xml using SoundSlice and then assembled into a score in a professional music notation program. The resulting score is opened as MIDI in a DAW (Logic Pro) and each part assigned a sampled sound and then edited and mixed.

Cover art by MLucas.

Public Domain, No Rights Reserved.

Andante Patetico e Doloroso (Gaston Borch)

Gaston Borch composed “Lullaby” for Carl Fisher’s Theatre Orchestra, 3rd Ed. in 1919. It’s a late romantic photoplay piece and despite the title it’s not obviously soporific. In C minor, it seems to be influenced by the blues. Borch (French 1871-1926) was among the most prolific of the photoplay (silent movie) composers.

This original recording of Borch's "Lullaby" was produced by @MLucas using OMR beginning with a digital scan of the original theater orchestra sheet music. The scans are converted into music xml using SoundSlice and then assembled into a score in a professional music notation program. The resulting score was imported into Logic Pro as MIDI. In Logic, each part assigned a sampled sound and then edited and mixed.

Cover art by MLucas using his photographs of the moon and three tundra swans at Kankakee Fish and Wildlife Area in Indiana, USA.

Public Domain, No Rights Reserved.

Lullaby (Gaston Borch)

Leo A. Kempinski (German/American 1891-1958) composed “Heavy (con moto) Tension” in 1922 as part of the "Incidental Symphonies - Half Reel Dramatic Illustrations" series for the Photo Play Music Company, 1520 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 

The cover sheet explains that the Incidental Symphony series was "compiled with the purpose of solving the difficult problem of eliminating Monotony when accompanying Dramatic and Agitated Scenes of unusual length" and modestly proclaims the series to be "Master Compositions that may justly be called THE ACME of Perfection."

The piano part was "Fully Cued" and could be used alone or as a simplified score. The composition is in 12/8 time, a compound quadruple time signature sometimes used in classic rock (think R.E.M.'s 'Everybody Hurts'). The tempo is "Allegro ma non troppo" - fast but not too much. To achieve intensity but avoid a rushed, frenetic feel we've recorded it at 124 BPM. 

Kempinski's career extended well into the audio recording age, and in the 1940s he led the "Leo Kempiski Continental Orchestra" at Columbia Records - https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/108230/Kempinski_Leo_A

This recording of Kempinski's "Heavy (con moto) Tension" was produced by @MLucas in North Judson, Indiana USA in April 2025 using OMR. The OMR process begins with a digital scan of the original theater orchestra sheet music. The scans are converted into music xml using SoundSlice and then assembled into a score in a professional music notation program. The resulting score was imported into Logic Pro as MIDI. In Logic, each part was assigned a sampled sound and then the project was edited and mixed. All the notes in our recording are in the original music, but we've arranged the piece to add more dramatic variation by silencing some instruments in selected passages.

Cover art by MLucas using his photograph of a rainy night time street.

Public Domain, No Rights Reserved.

Heavy Tension (Leo A. Kempinski)

"In the Jungle" was composed in 1918 by Otto Langey (1851-1922) as number 19  in Ditson's "Music for the Photoplay" series.  Though from the silent film era, it's clearly for use as a soundtrack, complete with sounds conjuring chattering monkeys and mysterious forest birds. So don your pith helmet and grab a machete, let's go!

This recording of Langey's "In the Jungle" was produced by @MLucas in January 2025 using Optical Music Recognition (OMR). The process starts with a digital scan of the original theater orchestra sheet music. The scans are converted into music xml using SoundSlice and then assembled into a score in a professional music notation program. The resulting score was imported into Logic Pro as MIDI. In Logic, each part assigned a sampled sound and then edited and mixed. Our rendition of "In the Jungle" features mainly the string section and keyboards -- the clarinets and brass parts were omitted.

Cover art by MLucas using his photograph of a great blue heron along the Bear Skin Trail near Minoqua Wisconsin, USA.

Public Domain, No Rights Reserved.

In the Jungle (Otto Langey)

John  Stepan Zamecnik composed “Misterioso (Stealth, Horror, Dark Scenes)" in 1920 for publication in Sam Fox Photoplay Edition, Vol. 1.  It’s a soundtrack piece — intended to be subservient to on screen action without drawing too much attention to itself.

It's repetitive, and that makes sense given its BGM role. It seems likely that the theater orchestras varied their delivery to keep it interesting and to make it work with on-screen action. Our version, created using OMR in winter 2025, adds some playful variations, especially in the organ part, and does not adhere closely to the original arrangement.

Cover photo and art by @MLucas.

Public Domain, No Rights Reserved.

Misterioso (John Stepan Zamecnik)

Otto Langey composed "Mysterious Furioso" to serve as a theater orchestra live music accompaniment for photoplays -- what we now call silent films. The piano part suggests it would be "suitable for Infernal and weird scenes, Witches etc". Mysterious Furioso was not intended for any particular film, but instead to be part of the orchestra's standard repertoire to be used on any film with a scene deemed appropriate.

Our all-new recording started with an OMR transformation of the original music. The OMR product was edited in Dorico, and then exported to create a multi-track session in Logic Pro. There orchestral samples were assigned and the project was mixed to make this audio recording. The result is a piece that is, perhaps, short on thematic value but makes sense for creating tension without distracting from the on screen weirdness.

Feel free to download and use as you see fit, especially for any Infernal and weird scenes you've put together. And Witches, of course.

Cover art by MLucas, based on a photograph of one jack-o-lanterns for halloweens of yore.

Public Domain, No Rights Reserved.

Mysterious Furioso (Otto Langey)

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