For over 20 years, Media Studies Lecturer Matthew Marshall has carved out a specific niche for himself in the Charlottesville film community. Equally adept at composing classical music as he is passionate about silent films, Marshall has melded these talents into a career — composing and performing live classic scores in the background of silent films at various theaters and institutions across Albemarle County.
Marshall’s passion for silent films began in his childhood, where he spent much of his time with his parents and grandparents, all of whom had strong interests in film. Growing up as an only child, Marshall spent an extended amount of his time listening to adults talk — often about film — which he says primed him to be receptive to cinema of a bygone time. Marshall said he was mesmerized when he caught the silent film “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” on television as a youth, setting him on the path to becoming a silent film aficionado.
Born with a good ear, Marshall also grew up interested in music. In college he started to develop his passion for classical stylings by getting into composing. As he started writing music for other musicians in the late 1990s, he thought about how to combine his craft with the silent films he loved to watch. With a background and interest in classical compositions, Marshall said he feels as though writing for silent films was a natural progression.
“The good news is the kind of music I like to write sounds [like the] 1920s,” Marshall said. “I try to keep you in the movie, in that world. I feel like to hear [music] that you would have heard at the time brings you back to that a little bit more.”
An opportunity presented itself in 2001 when Richard Herskowitz — former director of the Virginia Film Festival — visited the senior center Marshall and his wife worked at, looking to spread word about the festival. Marshall’s wife mentioned her husband's proclivity for composing scores and Herskowitz — who was looking for someone to play music for “The Phantom of the Opera” — was immediately interested. Since then, Marshall has composed and performed his music for silent films screening at the Virginia Film Festival annually from 2001 to 2012, and periodically in the years since. Beyond these experiences, Marshall performs for silent films at other local spots, from his courses at the University to the Paramount Theater and the Violet Crown, where he was named the theater’s first artist in residence in 2024.
Fourth-year College student Emma Bauer watched Marshall perform live at the Violet Crown, and expressed her appreciation for his craft. Marshall performed solo at this screening, but he sometimes plays with a chamber group to create a fuller, more orchestral sound.
“[With Marshall] playing for the whole 70 minutes of the show and having to sit there and listen to the music without words and fast motion happening on the screen, it was a very calming and meditative experience,” Bauer said.
Before beginning to teach at the University in 2016, Marshall taught classes in the film department at Hollins University for five years after receiving his Master of Fine Arts in screenwriting in 2011. Beyond teaching and performing, Marshall has written multiple screenplays. His script “The Portrait” — a story pairing Roderick Usher, from Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher,” with Ligeia, from Poe’s “Ligeia,” in a tense relationship — won “Best Horror Script” at the 2011 Rhode Island International Film Festival, and other awards at the 2012 New York and Los Angeles International Film Festival and the 2014 White Nights International Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Transitioning away from screenwriting, Marshall now teaches MDST 2710, “Screenwriting” and MDST 2810, “Cinema As An Art Form” through the University’s Media Studies department, as well as “Film Appreciation” through the Piedmont Virginia Community College’s Prison Education Program. “Cinema As An Art Form” gives Marshall an opportunity to showcase his passion for silent films and classical music in a classroom setting. Occasionally, he plays full-length silent films in class, accompanied with musical compositions that he performs live on a piano.
With “Cinema As An Art Form,” Marshall is able to introduce silent films to a completely new generation. Marshall aims to introduce students to the power of images when creating meaning, which can be difficult when students are more accustomed to short-form content than sprawling black-and-white films without dialogue. Marshall said he wants people to “watch less and see more” by reducing the quantity of visual media consumed and increasing attention to detail.
Marshall’s process for composing music evolved as he gained more experience. In the past, his scores were completely composed himself, but as access to the scores and cue sheets for older films has expanded through online resources, Marshall began to draw more upon existing music.
Currently, Marshall’s scores are typically made up of two-thirds his own composition and one-third existing music. If the original music for a silent film still exists or is widely accessible, Marshall prefers to follow the known score more closely. For example, when he performed live for the Virginia Film Festival’s 100th anniversary screening of “Nosferatu” in 2022, Marshall relied almost entirely on the original score composed by Hans Erdmann. Through these performances, Marshall tries to build a relationship with his audience, an effect that cannot be achieved in any other form of media.
“There’s the art that’s on the screen, but then there’s the art of the audience, their ability to make connections. When you're dealing with short-form content, you’re not going to make connections, you're just going to experience the thing in the moment,” Marshall said. “It’s not so much that the movies have changed, it's that audiences have changed the way they take in content.”
Through Marshall’s dedication to silent films and composing, he has brought a greater appreciation for the aging art form to Charlottesville. Marshall will be playing the live score for “The Adventures of Prince Achmed” March 15 at the Violet Crown, with tickets available on their website.
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