Our fifth interviewee is one of the most versatile musicians of his generation. He can play not one, not two, but sometimes more than three instruments over the course of a single performance. This true orchestra man, you will have recognised him, is no one other than Stephen Horne.

Stephen started accompanying silent films when he at university, and has not stopped since. Besides being a house pianist at London’s BFI southbank for 30+ years, he also regularly performs at silent and restored film festivals around the world, from Pordenone and Bologna, to San Francisco and Shanghai. 

Stephen has also composed the scores for a wide diversity of DVDs: Irvin Willat’s war drama Behind the Door, the British masterpiece Cottage on Dartmoor and the Mitchell and Kenyon: Edwardian Sports, Tales from the Shipyard collection. One of his most remarkable achievements remains his work on the reconstruction of the soundtrack for The Battle of the Ancre and Advance of the Tanks and The Battle of the Somme for the Imperial War Museum.

Photo Credit: Pamela Gentile

Stephen Horne @ Il Cinema Ritrovato 2018

The Peeping Archivist