Event

JOSE LUIS NIETO’s music
to Chaplin’s silent movie “The Kid” (for piano), Op25
Prelude nº1 (introduction)
Mazurka nº1 (the man)
Prelude nº2 (alone)
March nº1 (Car theft)
March nº2 (Chaplin’s morning walk)
Bagatela nº1
Tempo di waltz (at step)
Prelude nº3 (alone)
Waltz nº1 (Chaplin and the kid)
Mazurka nº2 (Five years more later)
Rapsodia Napolitana
Bagatela nº2 (workday)
Waltz nº2 (“Job Lumber 13”)
Prestissimo (persecution)
Tempo di waltz
Jazz play (successes)
Rapsodia Napolitana (after lunch)
Prelude nº3
Mazurca nº3 (Welcome to fame)
Nocturn
Waltz nº3 (lunch)
Bagatela nº3 (theft Toy)
Toccata (fight)
Prelude nº4 (his mother)
March nº3 (doctor)
Tempo agitato
Night
Fantasy (Chaplin’s dream)
Coda (ending)

CINEMA CONCERT

Music composed and performed by Jose Luis Nieto accompanies the presentation of Charlie Chaplin’s film “The Kid”. Such unusual format of a concert breaks the typical standard and aims to attract the audience not accustomed to the classical music.

The music corresponds directly to every scene. In such way the author proposes a program with strict musical terminology where scherzo, prelude, nocturn, ect are explained through images.

THE KID

After the release of Shoulder Arms, Chaplin requested more money from First National, which was refused. Frustrated with their lack of concern for quality, and worried about rumours of a possible merger between the company and Famous Players-Lasky, Chaplin joined forces with Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and D. W. Griffith to form a new distribution company – United Artists, established in January 1919. The arrangement was revolutionary in the film industry, as it enabled the four partners – all creative artists – to personally fund their pictures and have complete control. Chaplin was eager to start with the new company, and offered to buy out his contract with First National. They declined this, and insisted that he complete the final six films he owed them.

Before the creation of United Artists, Chaplin married for the first time. The 17-year-old actress Mildred Harris had revealed that she was pregnant with his child, and in September 1918 he married her quietly in Los Angeles to avoid controversy. Soon after, the pregnancy was found to be a false alarm. Chaplin was unhappy with the union and, feeling that marriage stunted his creativity, struggled over the production of his film Sunnyside. Harris was by then legitimately pregnant, and on 7 July 1919, gave birth to a son. Norman Spencer Chaplin was born malformed, and died three days later. The marriage eventually ended in April 1920, with Chaplin explaining in his autobiography that they were «irreconcilably mismated».

Losing a child is thought to have influenced Chaplin’s work, as he planned a film which turned the Tramp into the caretaker of a young boy. For this new venture, Chaplin also wished to do more than comedy and, according to Louvish, «make his mark on a changed world.»Filming on The Kid began in August 1919, with four-year-old Jackie Coogan his co-star. It occurred to Chaplin that it was turning into a large project, so to placate First National, he halted production and quickly filmed A Day’s Pleasure. The Kid was in production for nine months, until May 1920, and at 68 minutes it was Chaplin’s longest picture to date. Dealing with issues of poverty and parent–child separation, The Kid is thought to have been influenced by Chaplin’s own childhood and was one of the earliest films to combine comedy and drama.[135] It was released in January 1921 with instant success, and by 1924 had been screened in over 50 countries.

Chaplin spent five months on his next film, the two-reeler The Idle Class. Following its September 1921 release, he chose to return to England for the first time in almost a decade. He then worked to fulfil his First National contract, releasing Pay Day in February 1922. The Pilgrim – his final short film – was delayed by distribution disagreements with the studio, and released a year later.