For this year's Heritage Open Days, Bluecoat again reveals its building as Artistic Director Bryan Biggs leads tours of our Grade 1 listed building. We're also hosting a screening of A Day In Liverpool (1929), performed with a brand new soundtrack, composed and recorded especially for its 90th birthday. A Day in Liverpool is an early example of the city symphony documentary genre, in which the city plays the central role. The film is a visually captivating silent classic by Anson Dyer, a major figure in British animation for over thirty years, from the First World War to the aftermath of the Second'. (BFI)
The film captures aspects of Liverpool in 1929, from the thriving industry of the docks, the overhead railway and tram systems, to stone masons building the Anglican Cathedral. Aidan Smith performs his score with a live band, bringing the film to life with a composition that evokes the city’s global outlook.
The event also includes a performance of Tracks, a new work for string ensemble by composer Luke Moore - a musical recollection of the Liverpool Overhead Railway that served the waterfront from 1893 until its closure in 1956. The performance features a CGI rendering of the railway in operation by 3D artist Steven Wheeler, footage by the Lumière Brothers shot from the railway in 1897, and newly filmed material. Tracks has been composed especially for this event and will be performed by music and arts collaboration collective Operation Lightfoot.
Full programme details of the two weekends, 14/15 & 21/22 September, from the Bluecoat website.