Musical Silents: The Passion of Joan of Arc

Live improvised score by Freeway Clyde
Spiritual rapture and institutional hypocrisy come to stark, vivid life in one of the most transcendent masterpieces of the silent era. Chronicling the trial of Joan of Arc in the hours leading up to her execution, Danish master Carl Theodor Dreyer depicts her torment with startling immediacy, employing an array of techniques—expressionistic lighting, interconnected sets, painfully intimate close-ups—to immerse viewers in her subjective experience. Anchoring Dreyer’s audacious formal experimentation is a legendary performance by Renée Falconetti, whose haunted face channels both the agony and the ecstasy of martyrdom. Nothing about this movie has aged in the 98 years since it was released.
A Tony Award-winning composer and arranger, Michael Chorney is one of Vermont’s most prolific and collaborative artists. After working for years on the score for the Broadway hit Hadestown, he longed to develop a collective, ensemble approach to music making. He found it back in Vermont and put together a group of the region’s most intuitive players to form Freeway Clyde.