Music, Singing and Stage Practice in the Cinemas of Upper Silesia During the 1920s

Abstract

In December 1896 itinerant exhibitor M.B. Wilson began presenting motion pictures advertised as ‘Edison-Theater’ in several large cities in Upper Silesia (Figure 4.1).’ Already these first cinematographic shows held in the region were accompanied by music. One of Wilson’s first shows was held in the theater-cum-concert hall in Gliwice. In order to convince the Gliwice public that this screening was finally an actual film screening, Wilson’s advertisement contained slogans such as ‘Kein Schwindel, Keine Nebelbilder, Keine Jahrmarktausstellung’ (No fake. No shadowgraphs. No fair exhibit).² While the exhibitor supplied the film reels and the machinery, the musicians for the performance were recruited in Gliwice. These first motion picture programs presented subjects such as the tsar’s visit to Paris, traffic in a metropolis, scenes from railway stations in Paris and Berlin and cavalry exercises and were accompanied by the local Infanterie-Kapelle, a military band, which might indicate that this music ensemble was selected to provide ‘adequate’ background music for some of the films in the program. Subsequent shows in the following year were projected with Edison’s apparatuses combined with phonograph records, which played, for example, African American songs and the speech of Kaiser Wilhelm given at the opening of the Kiel Canal.³ Although the novel technical devices of sound recordings to accompany moving images evoked great interest, they remained a mere curiosity, yielding the field predominantly to musical performances and live declamations.