The General

Presented with a live score by HarmonieBand

Taking inspiration from a real Civil War incident when Union soldiers hijacked a Confederate train, The General was silent comedian Buster Keaton’s most grandly conceived project.

The train driver who goes in dogged pursuit of his beloved engine is a classic Keaton character: stoical, determined and preternaturally straight-faced as chaos reigns around him.

The film is a seamless blend of action and comedy, involving a great number of stunts – including the famous sequence in which a bridge bearing a railroad train collapses into a gorge.

The great expense that such moments incurred was remembered when the film was a commercial disaster, to the cost of Keaton’s future creative freedoms. Only decades later was The General recognised as one of silent cinema’s greatest comedies.

About the musicians

HarmonieBand is a three piece ensemble specialising in the presentation of specially composed scores by Paul Robinson to silent films. Originally formed in 1985 , HarmonieBand have performed at all the major art centres, cinemas and film
festivals in the UK and Europe.

These include trips to Pordenone, Berlin, Dresden, three tours of Holland, the Cambridge Film Festival, annual appearances at the Barbican and numerous regional film theatres. In 2007 HarmonieBand was invited to join the Hilliard Ensemble with a new score by Paul Robinson for Dreyer's "Jeanne D'Arc" The score was presented in the Wroclaw Opera House and recorded for Polish TV.

The ensemble is dedicated to live performances of scores for silent movies and with judicious employment of backing tracks, makes an orchestral sound as a backdrop to the three live players on saxophones, Cello and accordion. Paul Robinson’s score to ‘The General’ was commissioned by the King Cross Partnership/Rail to Reel Festival in 2003.