Haexan

(Christiansen, 1922) Music compiled from original cue sheet.

A documentary history of witchcraft with reenactments of the trials and treatment of suspected witches. Christiansen’s style of film making strongly influenced that of Carl Dreyer, particularly his Passion of Joan of Arc. With scenes showing grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath, Benjamin Christiansen’s legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the middle ages and their accusers suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious - instead it’s a witches’ brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous.

 

Performing forces
Minimum
11 players (violin I and II, cello, bass, flute/piccolo, clarinet I, trumpet I, trombone, percussion/timpani, piano, organ/synthesizer)
Performing forces
Maximum
45 players (strings 7,7,6,5,4, flute/piccolo, oboe, clarinet I & II, bassoon, 2 Fr. Horns, 2 trumpets, trombone, 2 percussion, tympani, harp, organ, piano).
Rehearsals One 2 ½ hour rehearsal with orchestra
One 2 ½ hour tech rehearsal
One 3 hour 10 minute dress rehearsal
Performance time One hour forty four minutes. No intermission
Film speed 20 frames per second
Projection variable speed 35 mm film projector
DVD projector
credits:
artwork:Lidia Bagnoli