Voyage to Cythera
Frank Scheffer / NL, 1999 / 52 min.
Documentary about Luciano Berio's composition Sinfonia’s third movement that consists of a number of musical references to various composers including Gustav Mahler. Screening in collaboration with the Mahler Festival 2025.
Sinfonia’s third movement largely consists of musical references to composers including Gustav Mahler, Igor Stravinsky, Pierre Boulez, Arnold Schönberg and Karl-Heinz Stockhausen. The composition is sometimes described as a collage, however Berio clearly states it isn’t one in Frank Scheffer’s documentary, it is a synthesis made from music he loves and that influenced his life, from Bach to Stravinsky and from Ravel to Stockhausen. It’s almost the personal credo of his career:
“If you were to ask me to explain the presence of Mahler’s scherzo in Sinfonia, the image that appears in my mind’s eye is that of a river flowing through an ever-changing landscape, disappearing underground from time to time, only to reappear entirely transformed.”
Just as Berio references composers, so Scheffer uses ‘quotes’ from his own films. The latter are connected by footage of a river – the same one Berio used to tie his composition together.
Also includes rehearsal footage, interviews (including with Luciano Berio, Riccardo Chailly and Louis Andriessen) and orchestras performing.
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Special screenings
Details
Director
Frank Scheffer
Production year
1999
Country
NL
Original title
Voyage to Cythera
Length
52 min.
Language
English
Subtitles
ENG
Format
DCP
Part of
Eye on Sound
With Eye on Sound, Eye focuses on the special relationship between image and sound. Expect live music to silent films, live bands from today to classics of yesteryear, brand new scores to films from the versatile Eye collection and special attention to the often neglected art of sound design.
In collaboration with
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