{"id":118243,"date":"2025-10-09T14:47:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T18:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=118243"},"modified":"2025-10-09T15:43:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T19:43:31","slug":"interview-horror-classic-reborn-london-composer-scott-good-talks-hands-orlac-gothic-film-concert-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/10\/09\/interview-horror-classic-reborn-london-composer-scott-good-talks-hands-orlac-gothic-film-concert-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | A Horror Classic Reborn: London Composer Scott Good Talks About The Hands of Orlac: A Gothic Film Concert Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_118246\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-118246\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-118246\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-10-09T144343.333.jpg\" alt=\"Still from The Hands of Orlac (Photo courtesy of the Forest City Film Festival)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-10-09T144343.333.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-10-09T144343.333-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-10-09T144343.333-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-10-09T144343.333-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-118246\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Still from The Hands of Orlac (Photo courtesy of the Forest City Film Festival)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Forest City Film Festival &amp; Artsmote are presenting a special screening of the silent film era classic The Hands of Orlac. Directed by Austrian filmmaker Robert Wiene, the movie was released in 1924 in black &amp; white, starring German\/British actor Conrad Veidt, Russian actress Alexandra Sorina and Austrian film and stage veteran Fritz Kortner.<\/p>\n<p>The event, The Hands of Orlac: A Gothic Film Concert Experience, adds live original music by London composer Scott Good, and takes place in the historic ambience of London\u2019s Metropolitan United Church with lighting via dozens of jack o&#8217;lanterns.<\/p>\n<p>The immersive cinema experience takes place on Halloween, October 31, 2025.<\/p>\n<h2>The Hands of Orlac (1924)<\/h2>\n<p>The Hands of Orlac is considered a masterpiece of early horror films, and expressionistic movies in general. It\u2019s based on the novel Les Mains d&#8217;Orlac by Maurice Renard, published in serialized form in 1920.<\/p>\n<p>The story of the century-old film is surprisingly modern. Orlac is a famous concert pianist. He loses his hands in a railway accident, and, his wife Yvonne, in desperation, agrees to a transplant.<\/p>\n<p>The problem? They\u2019ve given him the hands of an executed murderer.<\/p>\n<p>Orlac finds out about the origins of his new body parts after the fact, and he\u2019s horrified. He becomes obsessed, and feels drawn towards thoughts of violence.<\/p>\n<p>Gradually, he spirals, convinced that his new hands are compelling him to kill.<\/p>\n<p>The story underscores dramatic themes of identity and madness.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JSPWX6zrkt4?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Scott Good: The Interview<\/h2>\n<p>Composer, conductor, and trombonist Scott Good has worked with a wide variety of artists and organizations, including orchestras, ensembles, choreographers, and others. He is Composer and Assistant Producer with London Symphonia, and previously served as Composer-in-Residence with the Vancouver Symphony from 2008 to 2011.<\/p>\n<p>For a composer, working with silent films offers unique opportunities to create atmospheric music.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was working with the Vancouver Symphony in 2010,\u201d Good recalls. \u201cWhen I was out there, they performed Nosferatu with a full orchestra on Halloween night.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEver since that happened, I thought, I\u2019ve got to write a score for a silent film.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He took a while to research possibilities. \u201cI thought a horror movie would be fun.\u201d Scott\u2019s concept was to use modern techniques and ideas in conjunction with a period film.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found this movie called The Hand of Orlac, and the protagonist is a pianist,\u201d he says. \u201cIt had everything I wanted. It was relatively well known and highly regarded.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He premiered his music for The Hands of Orlac with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in 2015.<\/p>\n<h3>Silent Films vs Talkies<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThere really is a difference between doing a silent film score and doing a talkie,\u201d Good says.<\/p>\n<p>For modern films with sound, the score has to work with other sounds. \u201cMusic comes in and out [and] there\u2019s all kind of sound effects,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s none of that in those [silent] movies. You get to do the entire soundscape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s that aspect that had piqued his interest. The length of the movie was part of the challenge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is two hours,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of music.\u201d All of it is synced to the actions on screen. \u201cIt\u2019s basically 27 scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, film incorporates several very dramatic scenes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has a real stage quality to it,\u201d Scott says. There\u2019s even a train crash. \u201cFor its time, it was really quite extravagant.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_118247\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-118247\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-118247\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-10-09T144558.776.jpg\" alt=\"L: Composer Scott Good (Photo courtesy of the artist); Image for the event\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-10-09T144558.776.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-10-09T144558.776-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-10-09T144558.776-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/10\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-10-09T144558.776-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-118247\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">L: Composer Scott Good (Photo courtesy of the artist); Image for the event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Composing The Score<\/h3>\n<p>Filmmaker Robert Wiene\u2019s approach was part of the appeal. \u201cHe created a movie with a lot of spaciousness that invites music,\u201d Good says.<\/p>\n<p>Scott\u2019s initial research had led him to consider other silent movies, including The Passion of Joan of Arc, but it was The Hands of Orlac that offered a greater emotional range.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause it\u2019s a thriller, and it has horror elements, the relationship that Orlac and Yvonne have in the film is very poignant.\u201d The score includes moments, and music, that highlight their romantic relationship as well as more dramatic scenes.<\/p>\n<p>In the score, Good uses music in various ways. At times, it\u2019s a modern treatment that intercuts with the action of the film. At other moments, the music adds atmosphere and emotional depth.<\/p>\n<p>In order to be able to fully focus on the considerable task, Scott rented a cabin in the woods with no phone or internet access. \u201cI make my scores on the computer,\u201d he notes. \u201cI spent 24\/7 [just] writing and eating. A week\u2019s worth could be done in two days there,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe score really kicked my butt. It was tough.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Performers<\/h3>\n<p>For the live screening version that will take place in 2025, he\u2019s reorchestrated the music for an orchestra of 17, a soprano (performed by <strong>Stacie Dunlop<\/strong>), together with a youth ensemble of 12 players from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yapca.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Yapca School<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI created youth parts for this score,\u201d he explains. \u201cThey get their own special part in this piece. I\u2019m getting them to play special effects with their instruments. It\u2019ll be a lot of fun,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like to give young people something really special when they come. There\u2019s no traditional notation in their parts.\u201d He explains they\u2019ll be making sounds with their instruments in unusual ways. \u201cAnd it sounds great. When you can get enough people together, you can create these textures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Toronto keyboardist extraordinaire <strong>Gregory Oh<\/strong> will be one of the performers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGreg is playing on two pianos,\u201d Good explains. That includes a concert grand piano, and an upright, that will be prepared for what he calls, \u201ca John Cage kind of piece\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s going to be doing extended improvisation on it that will be amplified,\u201d he adds, \u201cit\u2019s almost big, like Rachmaninoff romanticism in some parts.\u201d It was written with Oh in mind. \u201cIt\u2019s a real showpiece for him. I\u2019ve worked really hard to write some virtuoso piano music for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The prepared piano sounds will be \u201cvery alien\u201d Good says, to mirror Orlac\u2019s mental deterioration in the story.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a sonic mapping of Orlac\u2019s deteriorating mental state,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>The high drama and big emotions made for a satisfying set of challenges, no matter what it took. \u201cI had a great time writing it.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Hands of Orlac: A Gothic Film Concert Experience takes place October 31, 2025 at the Metropolitan United Church (lit by jack o\u2019lanterns); performance details and tickets [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/fcff.ca\/hands-of-orlac\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? 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