Irving Berlin, as Jerome Kern famously said, ‘…has no place in American music. He is American music.’
In this online talk, Searle will remind you of the enormous output of this extraordinary talent, and perhaps introduce you to some new works. The story picks up where Searle left off last July, with Irving Berlin working in Hollywood in the 1930s (no need to have attended the previous talk to enjoy this one!).
For many people, this was to be the greatest period of Berlin’s music. Perhaps inspired by the creative genius of Fred Astaire, Berlin created some of his greatest songs from 1935 to 1939. The talk will focus on the film evidence of Berlin’s work and will include clips.
Searle is a filmmaker and writer on cinema and other performing arts. He has just completed a practice-based PhD at the University of Portsmouth in co-creative documentary practice. This work builds on previous research projects, Rainbow Jews and Ritual Reconstructed . His short films have included Leaving the Table (2007) and L'Esprit de l'Escalier (2010) and a mixed animation/live action docudrama on Leon Trotsky entitled Dream Life of Debris.
