Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror was first released in 1922 and is largely based on the story of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This is so much the case that, at the time, the Estate of Bram Stoker demanded that all copies of the film be immediately destroyed. Fortunately, some prints survived, and after the release of Nosferatu in America in 1929, the film came to be regarded as significant and influential.

Made in Germany in 1921 and directed by F.W.Murnau, Nosferatu thrills and chills thanks to the genius of Max Schreck in the title role. He creates one of the timeless icons of cinema – Nosferatu himself – a figure countlessly revisited in popular culture, from Herzog’s remake, to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, all the way to Spongebob Squarepants!

The Arranz Ensemble score blends modern atmospheric techniques, minimalism, and the music of modernism and melodrama to create a sound-world that sensitively enhances the brooding and emotional qualities of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.

The Arranz Ensemble will also be accompanying just a few of the silent films of Georges Méliès, the Magician of Cinema. Join them in fabulous underwater kingdoms, fiery hellish caves and silly kitchens!

Méliès began his performing career in the 1880s as a Stage Magician. By the time the twentieth century arrived he was making short films that were initially a direct progression from stage magic and already incorporated many of the tricks of film that would be staple for the next one hundred years. Ranging from the fantastical to the comic to the documentary, his films cover subjects as diverse as the Roman Empire, A Channel Tunnel, Fairy Land, Science-Fiction, Magic, and Romance. In all, Méliès made hundreds of films, remarkable for their innovation, charm, ingenuity, comedy and invention. By 1920 his career was in ruins and his films largely forgotten. But not forever.