Ever since the start of film when the Lumière brothers premiered Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory in 1895, music has always been synonymous with cinema. However it wasn’t until 1933 when Max Steiner wrote the score for King Kong that music in cinema became a thing. Cinemusica, held at the QPAC auditorium, is the collaboration between Synergy Percussion and the Australian Chamber Orchestra led by director Richard Tognetti, showcasing the sonic partnership of strings, percussion and film.

Opening with Xenakis’ Voile a tone for the evening is instantly set as the dramatically visceral piece screeches into your ears, juxtaposed with three excerpts from Thomas Newman’s American Beauty score. The former comprises dense sharp attacks leaving you with a sense of unease as the multitude of violins screech at one another with short breaths of silence followed by quick cuts of pure horror. On one hand it’s almost too much to open the concert with and on the other hand it’s perfect.

Newman’s American Beauty score was a perfect accompaniment for the film, it’s playful and yet leaves me with a deep sense of sadness and reflection, with its gentle piano pieces drifting in and out like the tide, the light tribal percussion and marimba riff bouncing in the background giving off a dreamscape feel. The piano is simple and yet, particularly for those familiar with the film, it conjures such an array of emotion and reflection. Impressively, even without the film shown the beauty of the live music still manages to remind me of all the emotions experienced during the film and even added some fresh ones.

Bernard Herrmann is one of the all time master composers for film and simply mentioning the film Psycho you might re-enact the stabbing motion depicted in the shower scene followed with the shrieking RIEEE RIEEE RIEEE (excuse my onomatopoeia, but if you don’t know what I’m talking about do yourself a favour and go watch this film it’s a classic!). The violins are even played during this part, in a similar stabbing motion, reminding you why this piece of music is often topping the list of the scariest movie music of all time. 

Up next, three percussionists (Timothy Constable, Joshua Hill and Bree van Reyk) took the stage in order to pound through Xenakis’ Psappha. A sporadic almost ritualistic rhythm is pounded into the listener’s ears, leaving me feeling like I was about to witness some sort of sacrificial séance building to a rhythmically precise climax.

Bartok’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta is taken from Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic The Shining. Led by Tognetti the Australian Chamber Orchestra masterfully recreates all the maniacal tension that must have inspired Kubrick to use this now famous piece. The orchestra is at its fullest in this particular piece as the Synergy percussionists led by Timothy Constable join the already large rhythm section primarily made up of violinists and cellists. The result is a densely intricate and emotive piece, which even without the visuals is still equally haunting. While some of the songs didn’t seem to flow together as well as others, the pieces chosen were performed flawlessly and deserved all the applause given.

- Tom Harrison