madrigal horror

F.W. Murnau: Nosferatu, eine Symphonie der Grauens, one of the most effective silent films of all time, was introduced 100 years ago. The original horror film was written in a five-act musical form according to its music score composed by Hans Erdmann performed by a symphony orchestra at the premiere in Berlin. Now we can watch and shudder throughout the restored copy of the movie accompanied by a special oratorical incidental music in which the world of late renaissance madrigals, Gregorian melodies of the 17th Psalm and a prayer against the plague are combined with contemporary electronic musical tools. The quoted composers are Clemens non Papa, Hassler, Isaak, Josquin des Pres, Lassus, Marenzio, Morales, Purcell and in the center Carlo Gesualdo di Venosa with his mysterious past. The lyrics and dark tone of his chromatic madrigals acquire a special new meaning during the Dracula story.