Frank Scheffer

Documentary about the creation of the chamber opera Si Fan, composed by Chinese composer Guo Wenjing in 2015 for the Nieuw Ensemble. In Si Fan (‘yearnings of love’), Guo combines traditional opera from his native Sichuan with his own music. "I don’t think when composing, I follow my heart", Guo says to Ed Spanjaard, head conductor of the Nieuw Ensemble, who comes to visit him in China to learn about the secrets of Sichuan opera. In this painstaking film, Shen Tiemei, the star singer of the Sichuan opera, speaks about the differences between East and West, and between tradition and the modern age.

An intense portrait of the painter Robert Zandvliet that moves through his studio and his head. While the artist explains what interests him about a painting, we see him at work: mixing paints, stretching canvas, trying out different brushes, but above all being concentrated and busy at length.

In 1968 Zwartjes was one of the first Dutch visual artists to make use of film: initially as a record of his performances, but quite soon after as an independent medium, perfectly suited to his way of creating visual art. Zwartjes did everything himself – camera, sound, editing and even the developing in the laboratory. He would work with non-professional actors selected from his circle of friends, and filmed in and around his own house. He particularly favoured editing his film ‘in the camera’ by switching the camera on and off while shooting. ‘My own motor system determined the film style,’ Zwartjes stated in an interview. ‘It never occurred to me to wonder: can this shot follow on after this one? If you start wondering about that you should be looking for another job straight away.’ This publication consists of a selection of photographs taken by Zwartjes during his years of filming and a short footage film on DVD from 1969.

It is the dream of the Persian avant-garde composer Nader Mashayekhi to bring modern classical music to his country Iran. His dream becomes reality when he is asked to conduct the Teheran Symphony Orchestra.

2012 documentary on John Cage celebrating his 100th birthday in the form of a re-edit of partially unused film material shot for the film 'Time is Music’ in 1987. Includes interviews and recordings of performances with the influential zen composer.

2012 documentary on John Cage celebrating his 100th birthday in the form of a re-edit of partially unused film material shot for the film 'Time is Music’ in 1987. Includes interviews and recordings of performances with the influential zen composer.

Described by writer Henry Miller as “the stratospheric colossus of sound”, French sonic alchemist Edgard Varèse (1883 - 1965) continues to influence music even 40 years after his death. Artists who cite his influence include Frank Zappa, John Cage, Elliot Carter, Pierre Boulez and many others in the contemporary DJ scene. Classifying music as ‘organised sound', Varèse was the first composer to emancipate music from accepted chordal combinations.

A brief overview and focus on composers Philip Glass, Julia Wolfe, John Cage, Steve Reich, Elliott Carter and their contemporaries.

Frank Scheffer's (collage like) documentary on the American composer and rock guitarist Frank Zappa, as broadcast by VPRO in the Netherlands April 22,2007. Most of what’s on here is seen before, particularly in Roelof Kier’s 1971 documentary and/or Scheffer’s own documentary “A present day composer refuses to die”. But there is some new stuff too, particularly interviews with Denny Walley, Haskell Wekler, Elliot Ingber and Bruce Fowler.

Frank Scheffer's (collage like) documentary on the American composer and rock guitarist Frank Zappa, as broadcast by VPRO in the Netherlands April 22,2007. Most of what’s on here is seen before, particularly in Roelof Kier’s 1971 documentary and/or Scheffer’s own documentary “A present day composer refuses to die”. But there is some new stuff too, particularly interviews with Denny Walley, Haskell Wekler, Elliot Ingber and Bruce Fowler.

Director Scheffer registered a performance of the Tea Opera by Chinese composer Tan Dun (who won an Oscar in 2001 with his score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). Scheffer interlaces the images with interviews with Dun, stage director Pierre Audi and librettist Xu Ying, about the opera and the role tea and oriental philosophy play in this work. Using monochrome, sometimes abstract images (in yellow, blue, red and green), close-ups of plants and flowers and images of the Chinese nature and people (sometimes accelerated or decelerated, sometimes in black-and-white), he mirrors the stylised opera performance and Dun's reflective music.

Director Scheffer registered a performance of the Tea Opera by Chinese composer Tan Dun (who won an Oscar in 2001 with his score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). Scheffer interlaces the images with interviews with Dun, stage director Pierre Audi and librettist Xu Ying, about the opera and the role tea and oriental philosophy play in this work. Using monochrome, sometimes abstract images (in yellow, blue, red and green), close-ups of plants and flowers and images of the Chinese nature and people (sometimes accelerated or decelerated, sometimes in black-and-white), he mirrors the stylised opera performance and Dun's reflective music.

One morning, the late Karlheinz Stockhausen awoke from a dream that told him to take to the sky. Stockhausen envisioned four helicopters swirling in the clouds, with each of a quartet’s members tucked inside his own chopper, communicating through headsets, stringing away in sync to the rotor-blade motors. He immediately set forth to make that dream a reality. In 1995, Dutch film director Scheffer followed Stockhausen in the days leading up to the premiere performance of his Helicopter String Quartet in Amsterdam. The resulting film offers a rare glimpse of Stockhausen as he patiently dictates every agonizingly detailed measure to the Arditti Quartet.

One morning, the late Karlheinz Stockhausen awoke from a dream that told him to take to the sky. Stockhausen envisioned four helicopters swirling in the clouds, with each of a quartet’s members tucked inside his own chopper, communicating through headsets, stringing away in sync to the rotor-blade motors. He immediately set forth to make that dream a reality. In 1995, Dutch film director Scheffer followed Stockhausen in the days leading up to the premiere performance of his Helicopter String Quartet in Amsterdam. The resulting film offers a rare glimpse of Stockhausen as he patiently dictates every agonizingly detailed measure to the Arditti Quartet.

Carefully composed portrait of prominent modern composer Elliott Carter (1908-1912). Scheffer depicts both the person and the development in his music and the musical tradition it grew out of, as well as the time in which the American Carter grew up. The result: historical images of the city of New York, old film footage, cinematographic finds to illustrate the music and statements by conspicuous fellow-composers and musicians, including Pierre Boulez and Daniel Barenboim.

Carefully composed portrait of prominent modern composer Elliott Carter (1908-1912). Scheffer depicts both the person and the development in his music and the musical tradition it grew out of, as well as the time in which the American Carter grew up. The result: historical images of the city of New York, old film footage, cinematographic finds to illustrate the music and statements by conspicuous fellow-composers and musicians, including Pierre Boulez and Daniel Barenboim.

A documentary based on Gustav Mahler's 9th Symphony. Riccardo Chailly is conducting and analyzing the four movements of the symphony.

Documents the interpretations of Gustav Mahler's compositions by conductors Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, and Simon Rattle, who detail the special relationship they have with Mahler's work.

Against the background of this short film in which he includes a complete Wagner cycle as a music video in four minutes, Scheffer shows in Ring many composers and conductors who have played a major role in twentieth-century music. Flashes of Elliot Carter, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Richard Wagner, Bernhard Haitink and many others crop up in the Wagner set. This leads to a compilation of the many music documentaries that Scheffer has made in recent years.

Attrazione d'Amore is a touching illustration of the unique relation that has developed between the Conductor Riccardo Chailly and his famous Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Voyage to Cythera navigates through wonderful musical quotes made of performances conducted by Berio, rehearsals, archival documents and interviews featuring Riccardo Chailly and Louis Andriessen.

In The Nature of Space, Frank Scheffer juxtaposes the ideas of two Dutch architects: the Benedictine monk Dom H. van der Laan and the anthroposophic architect Ton Alberts. Van der Laan represents a plain and pure architecture, based on his own research into ratios. He designed churches and monasteries, among them a monastery in Vaals. Ton Alberts works from organic forms, as demonstrated by his design of the NMB Bank headquarters in Amsterdam. Director Frank Scheffer stresses the difference in style between these architects, both of whom allow their spiritual background to be reflected in their work, by adopting a very different camera style in the case of each. (filmcommission.nl)

Eclat is a fascinating documentary about the work. We witness rehearsals by the Netherlands' Nieuw Ensemble, hear comments about the piece from the composer, conductor Ed Spanjaard and some of the musicians, and we see a full performance of the work. Eclat ("To burst out") is a beautiful example of the strangely lyrical pointillist style that Boulez had inherited from Anton von Webern. Aural pinwheels and shifting musical kaleidoscopes with stunning instrumental color is the only way to verbally describe what must be heard to be understood. This is definitely not for those who hate "modern" music. For those who respond to contemporary music, this piece is masterful and this film is a must-see!

Eclat is a fascinating documentary about the work. We witness rehearsals by the Netherlands' Nieuw Ensemble, hear comments about the piece from the composer, conductor Ed Spanjaard and some of the musicians, and we see a full performance of the work. Eclat ("To burst out") is a beautiful example of the strangely lyrical pointillist style that Boulez had inherited from Anton von Webern. Aural pinwheels and shifting musical kaleidoscopes with stunning instrumental color is the only way to verbally describe what must be heard to be understood. This is definitely not for those who hate "modern" music. For those who respond to contemporary music, this piece is masterful and this film is a must-see!