The Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra

The Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra is an ensemble of composers and musicians based in St. Louis, Missouri. The ensemble composes and performs original scores to accompany films of the Silent Era, and composes and records soundtrack music for contemporary films.

Origins and History

The ensemble was formed in 2003-04 in St. Louis as "The Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra" during the break-up of members Robert Laptad's and Brien Seyle's band The Whole Sick Crew and members Matt Frederick's and Matt Pace's band The Baysayboos. During this time, the ensemble composed and recorded soundtrack music for local short films. In 2005, Frederick moved to the East Coast. The ensemble added former Whole Sick Crew members Luke Deichman, Beth Dill and Jeremy Quinn, and dropped the "Motion Picture Orchestra" from its name. In 2007, the Rats & People released a full-length album of songs The City of Passersby. 2007 also was the year that the ensemble premiered its Webster University-commissioned original score and live accompaniment to Buster Keaton's film Go West. Finding silent film accompaniment more rewarding than conventional bar shows, the ensemble ceased to write and perform lyrically-based music. Readopting the moniker "Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra," the ensemble focused itself primarily on composing and performing original scores to films of the Silent Era. Frederick returned to St. Louis in 2008 and rejoined the ensemble. In 2009, multi-instrumentalist Heather Rice (formerly of the Carpark Records band Light Pollution) and classical strings musician Emma Tiemann joined the ensemble. In addition to its silent film scoring and accompaniment, the ensemble continues to compose and to record soundtrack music for contemporary films.

Discography (As "The Rats & People")

• The City of Passersby (Full-Length CD) (2007)
• I Sang to Heather Nethereye (Split 7-inch) (2007)

Silent Era Film Scores (As "The Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra")

• Buster Keaton's Go West (Premiered 2007, commissioned by Webster University) for piano, acoustic and electric guitar, two violins, trumpet, trombone and tape loop operator/percussionist
• F.W. Murnau's The Last Laugh (Premiered 2008, commissioned by Webster University) for piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, electric guitar, two violins, glockenspiel and tape loop operator/percussionist
• Buster Keaton's The High Sign (Premiered 2008) for piano, two violins, viola, trombone and percussionist
• Sergei Eisenstein's Strike (Premiered 2009, commissioned by Webster University) for piano, two violins, viola, trumpet, trombone and tape loop operator/percussionist
• F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (Premiered 2009, commissioned by Vanderbilt University) for Wurlitzer electric piano, two violins, viola, electric guitar, theremin, vibraphone, trumpet, trombone and tape loop operator/percussionist
• Buster Keaton's One Week (Premiered 2010, composed by Kevin O'Connor of 7 Shot Screamers) for piano, two violins, viola, trumpet, trombone, upright bass and percussionist
• Benjamin Christensen's Häxan (Premiered 2010, commissioned by the St. Louis International Film Festival) for piano, two violins, viola, vibraphone, trumpet, trombone and tape loop operator/percussionist
• Buster Keaton's The Goat (Premiered 2011, commissioned by Lee Expressive Arts Elementary School) for piano, two violins, viola, trombone and percussionist
• Ernst Lubitsch's The Wild Cat (Premiered 2011, commissioned by the St. Louis International Film Festival) for piano, two violins, viola, trumpet, trombone, recorder quintet and percussionist
• Buster Keaton's The Balloonatic (Premiered 2012, commissioned by Lee Expressive Arts Elementary School) for banjo, electric bass, percussion, theremin, trombone, trumpet, and two violins
• Buster Keaton's The Electric House (Premiered 2012, commissioned by Lee Expressive Arts Elementary School, composed by Kevin O'Connor of 7 Shot Screamers) for piano, two violins, viola, trumpet, trombone, upright bass and percussionist
• Twelve Short Scores for Georges Méliès: The Card Party, The Vanishing Lady, The Haunted Castle, The Temptation of St. Anthony, The Devil in a Convent, The Pillar of Fire, The One-Man Band, The Man with the Rubber Head, The Melomaniac, The Kingdom of the Fairies, The Impossible Voyage, The Merry Frolics of Satan (Premiered 2012 for the Fourth Annual St. Louis Classic French Film Festival, with Natalie Huggins, soprano and Kate Peterson, mezzo soprano, commissioned by Cinema St. Louis) for piano, two violins, viola, trumpet, trombone, recorder quintet, three electric guitars, percussionist, mezzo soprano vocalist, soprano vocalist
• Erich von Stroheim's Greed (Premiered 2013, commissioned by the 2013 Greater St. Louis Humanities Festival) for piano, two violins, viola, double bass (Arturia MiniBrute), percussion, theremin, trombone, trumpet, vibraphone, tape-loop operator, two guitars (electric)

References

• "Baysay It Loud: Pop Cheese Meets Music Theory in the Baysayboos," Riverfront Times, 02-04-04
• "Read It in Books: Rats and People hide in a basement, can't take a compliment, secretly dig proper literature", Riverfront Times, 08-27-07
• "In a Silent Way: The Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra Scores the Silent Film Nosferatu", Riverfront Times, 11-25-09

External links

• The Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra