Musicology and the presentation of silent film.

The article discusses the synthesis of musicology with a look at trends in the accompaniment of silent films. In this paper, instances where musical scholarship may be of importance in understanding, presenting and preserving silent films are described. The presentation of a silent film with live musical accompaniment has remained a special occasion, but more on the account of expense. The presentation and interpretation of such films have been hindered by various technical problems. Thus, the process of restoration intends to arrest decomposition and to preserve a film from totally vanishing and to preserve the work in the form closest to its original release format.