• Swindon & Wiltshire Culture
• Friday November 1 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

History of Bristol on film to be set to music for one-off performance

An event celebrating the history of Bristol on film accompanied by a full live orchestra will take place at Bristol Beacon on December 1.

Bristol – 100 Years in Music and Film will celebrate the centenary of Bristol Archives with 100 young musicians from Bristol Youth Orchestra accompanying the remarkable cine footage of Bristol at work and play, much of which has never been shown in public before.

The film will be projected on a massive screen at Bristol Beacon while the orchestra, conducted by Tim Harrison, performs music from Holst, Vaughan Williams, and Florence Price.

Bristol pianist Sandie Middleton will also premiere a new composition, specially written for the concert, during a section showing bomb-ravaged Bristol in the Second World War.

Film-makers David Parker and Bob Pitt worked with Bristol Archives to select around 100 minutes of film from the collection stored at B Bond Warehouse, which was the first borough archive in the country when it was formed in 1924.

A still from Bristol – 100 Years in Music and Film

David Parker said: “Stunning film of Bristol docks in their prewar heyday, wonderful film of daily life in the 1930s, Bristol citizens at war, in colour and evocative film of the rebuilding of the city blitzed and shattered by that war, are just some of the highlights that will be projected in Bristol’s foremost concert venue.”

Councillor Tony Dyer, leader of the Bristol City Council, said: “Bristol has a vibrant and storied history that deserves to be told. The last 100 years has seen our city witness tremendous change; growing and evolving from a bustling maritime city into the diverse, progressive and exciting Bristol we all know and love today.

“Celebrating our city’s story through the medium of music and film, accompanied by some of our city’s finest young musicians in the stunning Bristol Beacon, is a befitting way to mark such a monumental milestone for the Bristol Archives.

“I would encourage all those who can to attend what is shaping up to be a wonderful evening honouring our city and the people who have contributed to it over an eventful century.”

Tim Harrison, director of Bristol Youth Orchestra, said the young musicians are looking forward to performing alongside the screen to dramatise the films.

“To perform at Bristol Beacon is a dream come true for many of the young musicians and co-ordinating live music to film is a huge challenge. We are currently in rehearsal working to make this a spectacular audio-visual event for a Bristol audience.”