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Experience the pageantry of Richard the Lionheart’s court, Prince John’s sinister machinations, Robin & Marian’s moving love story, & the irrepressible Fairbanks’ swash-buckling finale! Few characters from the past have captured the American popular imagination as completely as Robin Hood, even though he doesn't visit seasonally like Santa Claus, or spring from the pen of a single author like Sherlock Holmes. Robin's life has been celebrated in dozens of books, TV series and movies. Young and old can describe the gallant archer dressed in green who robs from the rich to give to the poor, lives in Sherwood Forest with Little John and Friar Tuck, loves Maid Marian, and hates wicked Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham. But if you ask when he lived, the answers will span almost 300 years. In truth, the Robin Hood we revere today is an amalgam of centuries of myth and legend. Because of this, when HESPERUS decided to create an early music soundtrack to accompany Douglas Fairbanks’ marvelous silent film, at first we didn’t know what musical repertoire to use. We chose music from the court of King Henry VIII for the court scenes; Henry was a Robin Hood fan and many of his favorite songs talk of hunting in the Greenwood. For the crusade scenes we play medieval tunes from the time of the crusades that have a certain Middle Eastern flavor. While our music is authentically early and we perform it on the appropriate instruments, every showing of the film is different, and you’ll hear a great deal of improvisation and spontaneous ornamentation. |
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