FILM SCORING & OTHER MEDIA
Pedro Henriques da Silva has worked in many film scores and has several film-scoring students at New York University. His experience as a performer and composer has given him a competitive edge when it comes to film scoring. He has recorded his orchestral compositions at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London with London Metropolitan Orchestra, with whom he was a soloist.
“4 feet high” 2022
Score by Pedro Henriques da Silva and Lucía Caruso; score produced by Pedro H. da silva
Juana, a 17-year-old wheelchair user, aims to explore her sexuality but is ashamed of her body. Trying to find her place in a new high school, she will go through failure, friendship, fear and politics until she builds her own pride.
Official selection and awarded at South by Southwest, Sundance, Venice Biennale, London Film Festival, Annecy.
https://www.4feethigh.com
“Forte” 2022
Score produced and additional music by Pedro Henriques da Silva; score by Lucia Caruso
Forte is the soundtrack to the feature documentary of the same name about three groundbreaking women in music: Eldbjørg Hemsing, Tatiana Berman, and Lucía Caruso. The latter composed the score as well, for full orchestra. Since music is at the center of the film, Lucía decided that unlike other documentary scores, this one should be epic, in the vein of a superhero soundtrack, since all the challenges and struggles that womenhave to go through, not only in the music industry, but also in life, women are true heroes. The most challenging part for Lucía was to compose the music for her own character, as she describes it herself: a musical self-portrait.
This soundtrack was recorded with The Orchestra Now (TŌN)
https://www.fortefilm.com
“LE VOYAGE DANS LA LUNE” (A TRIP TO THE MOON) 1902
New Score 2016
by Pedro Henriques da Silva and Lucia Caruso
The most famous of Georges Méliès’s films, “A Trip to the Moon” is actually the world’s first sci-fi film. Méliès’s ingenious special effect techniques hold their own, even more than a century later. To create this new score, Pedro Henriques da Silva and Lucia Caruso were inspired by the music of the time period, namely Debussy, Ravel, and R. Strauss, with influences from later composers such as Stravinsky. It is written for full orchestra with mixed choir highlighting the more fantastical aspects of the story: when we first see the face of the Moon as a rocket descends into its eye, when it begins to snow on the Moon, and for the film’s climax.
GEORGES MÉLIÈS’S MASTERPIECES:
“JEANNE D’ARC” (JOAN OF ARC) 1899-1900
New Score 2016
by Pedro Henriques da Silva and Lucia Caruso
One of Georges Méliès’s first masterpieces, “Jeanne d’Arc” is the first narrative film in history, and therefore an extremely significant work of art. It was shot in black and white and painstakingly colored by hand. It is also one of the very first films with special effects, the first being Méliès’s own “The Vanishing Woman” from 1896.
Lucia Caruso and Pedro Henriques da Silva created a new score for full orchestra and mixed choir, using the texts from the Requiem mass to parallel the events in Joan of Arc’s life.
“THROUGH MY WINDOW”
Ahea photography and music exhibition
Music by Lucia Caruso and Pedro Henriques da Silva
Lucia Caruso and Pedro Henriques da Silva were commissioned by visionary Korean artist Ahae to write the music for his photo exhibits at Louvre Museum, Paris; Palace of Versailles, France; Grand Central Station, New York; Magazzini del Sale, Venice; and Kew Royal Palace, London. Close to two hours of music was composed and performed with the composers as soloists with Orchestre Lamoureux in Paris, and with a string quartet formed by members of Orchestre de Paris and the assistant concertmaster of London Symphony Orchestra. These works were recorded with London Metropolitan Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios. The entire project was cinematic in scope: instead of scoring a moving picture, the music needed to convey movement in static photographs. The composers painted the narrative of these nature photographs with their music. Other composers commissioned for this project were renowned Hollywood composers Michael Nyman (“The Piano”), Ilan Eshkeri (“Young Victoria”), and prominent contemporary classical composer Nicolas Bacri.
“Snow” for Portuguese guitar and orchestra
Composed and performed by Pedro Henriques da Silva with Orchestre Lamoureux at Louvre Museum, Jardin des Tulieries, Paris, France
This work was premiered at Tuileries Garden for a crowd of thousands by Orchestre Lamoureux, as part of an exhibition at Louvre Museum. It was later performed at Palace of Versailles. It was commissioned by Ahae Foundation and recorded by London Metropolitan Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios with renowned producer Steve McLaughlin. Pedro Henriques da Silva performs as soloist on Portuguese guitar. The photographs that inspired this work have a purity that goes beyond the whiteness of the snow: in these frames photographer Ahae perfectly captures the stillness and quiet that comes on a beautiful snow day. I tried to capture that in the opening of the piece with a soft 'snow begins to fall' motif on the harp and Portuguese guitar. The latter is a 12-stringed instrument that has a truly enchanting and magical sound; it is related to the cittern, and is used in fado, the traditional music of Portugal, although I try to expand its technique and use it in a classical-contemporary context. For instance, harmonics are rarely, if ever, used on the Portuguese guitar, but because they sound so ethereal, I used groups of harmonics as a gentle 'falling snow' motif that is later heard on the harp and in the strings. The work modulates very little, which is unusual for our time period, and stays mainly in the mode of D Lydian, which, to me, is the most luminous of the modes and is emblematic of snow and purity. Both of these elements represent the simple beauty of the photographs. The final 30 seconds of the piece use special harmonic glissandos on the strings and Portuguese guitar representing a gentle wintry wind.
“SUNSET” FOR CLASSICAL GUITAR
Composed and performed by Pedro H. da Silva
This work was recorded at Mark Knopfler's British Grove Studios in London, with renowned producer Steve McLaughlin and premiered at an exhibition at Louvre Museum, in two special concerts at Tuileries Garden for a crowd of thousands, and performed at Palace of Versailles.This piece was commissioned by an important Korean foundation. Da Silva performed and recorded on classical guitar. This composition is the most personal for me, and it relates as much to the artist, Ahae, as to the subject matter itself. The inspiration for the music came directly from several conversations I had with Ahae's son, Keith Yoo, about his father's life, philosophy, and interpretation of the Bible, of which I am also an avid reader. From these conversations I learned that many biblical figures go west as a symbol for their death, because the sun sets in the west. The piece is therefore a contemplation of both the beauty of the sunset in Ahae's powerful photographs and of our own mortality. The music is nostalgic and wistful, but at the same time also hopeful for the coming birth of the new day after the dark night. Adhering to the ideas of simplicity that I have used in this series, this work uses only eight pitches, but it does modulate to four different modes within the same key signature, symbolic of the sunset as seen in the four seasons.
“BIRDS IN WINTER” FOR PORTUGUESE GUITAR AND PIANO
Music by Lucia Caruso and Pedro Henriques da Silva; Performed and recorded by Caruso and da Silva at British Grove Studios, London
This work was recorded at Mark Knopfler's British Grove Studios in London with renowned producer Steve McLaughlin, premiered at a Louvre Museum exhibition and performed at Palace of Versailles.
This piece was commissioned by the Ahae Foundation. Da Silva and Caruso recorded and performed on Portuguese guitar and piano.
This is a composition inspired by the photos of birds playing and flying in the snow. It is a co-composition by Caruso and da Silva for the unique combination of Portuguese guitar and piano. It uses several themes from other pieces written for photographer Ahae's photos: the ‘falling snow’ motif and main melody from “Snow” by da Silva, and the ‘autumn’ and ‘birds taking flight’ themes from “Overture Through My Window: Birds Soaring in Autumn” by Caruso. Trills on the piano, and the arpeggios and light tremolo on the Portuguese guitar, represent the flight and wing movements of the birds, while the harmonics in the Portuguese guitar, the calm rhythm and frequent high register on both instruments represent cold and serenity in a white winter landscape.
“INTERIOR DESIGN” PART OF THE “TOKYO!” TRIPTYCH 2009
By oscar-winner Michel gondry
Music by Étienne Charry;
Classical and electric guitars performed by Pedro Henriques da Silva
Surreal drama, directed by Michel Gondry, about a girl who becomes a chair. Stars Ayako Fujitani, Ayumi Ito, and Ryo Kase.
“BE KIND REWIND” 2008
By oscar-winner Michel gondry
Music by Jean-Michel Bernard;
Electric guitar performed by Pedro Henriques da Silva
A comedy, directed by Michel Gondry (with Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Sigourney Weaver, Mia Farrow), about a man whose brain becomes magnetized unintentionally when he destroys every tape in his friend's video store. In order to satisfy the store's most loyal renter, an aging woman with signs of dementia, the two men set out to remake the lost films.
“How to Seduce Difficult Women” 2009
Score composed and produced by Pedro Henriques da Silva;
With additional music by Lucia Caruso
A wonderful French-American comedy directed by Richard Témtchine (produced Dummy 2002 with Adrien Brody and Milla Jovovich), stars Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Rachel Roberts and Paul Lazar, among others, and was theatrically-released 2009. “Philippe, a French-American writer living in Manhattan, decides to take on ten relationship-challenged men to help them learn the art of seduction.”
“TIJUANA NADA MÁS” 2009
Music by Pedro Henriques da Silva
Tijuana, Nada Más, a documentary directed by Yolanda Pividal, is the story of four homeless children in the busiest border city in the world: Tijuana
“FATHER AND SONG” 2007
Music by Lucia Caruso and Pedro Henriques da Silva
Comedy, directed by Cheriyan John and Christopher Riemann, about a frustrated composer, son of the composer of the Super Mario Brothers’ theme song, who tries to recompose popular songs (Happy Birthday, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, The Star-Spangled Banner) and is met with scorn and ridicule.
RECORDING FOR FILM
Recording at the state-of-the-art Dolan Studios at New York University, Manhattan Camerata has the flexibility to record anything from a small chamber ensemble to a full orchestra (winds, brass, percussion, harps, keyboards, and strings) as appropriate. Projects range from small independent films to large studio productions. Working in multiple styles including orchestral, electronic, jazz, and rock, Manhattan Camerata also undertakes projects for dance, theatre, performance art, video games, and television.
Recording Option A
Music: Composed by Lucía Caruso and Pedro Henriques da Silva
Performed by: Manhattan Camerata
Recorded at: NYU Dolan Studios
Editing and Mixing: NYU faculty
This option results in the highest quality recording from solos to chamber orchestra, at the state-of-the-art Dolan studio at NYU. Fees are highly discounted due to faculty affiliation.
Recording Option B
Music: Lucía Caruso and Pedro Henriques da Silva
Performed by: London Metropolitan Orchestra or other symphonic orchestras
Recorded at: Abbey Road Studios
Editing and Mixing: Steve McLaughlin and other Abbey Road engineers
This option results in the highest quality recording with a full symphonic orchestra, at legendary Abbey Road Studios (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings movies recorded here). A special arrangement with Abbey Road, Grammy-winning producer Steve McLaughlin, and the London Metropolitan Orchestra keep the fees reasonable and affordable.