Voices of Light/The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Film by Carl Theodor Dreyer
A 1928 black & white silent film chronicling the trial of Jeanne d’Arc on charges of heresy, and the efforts of her ecclesiastical jurists to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions. A controversial film censored by the Catholic Church.
Music By Richard Einhorn
The music is an oratorio with text drawn from Vita Sackville-West’s biography of Joan, from the letters of Joan of Arc herself, and other medieval and modern sources. Intended not merely as a film score, but as a stand-alone composition. Church bells from Joan’s native village were recorded and used in the score that heralded Joan’s voice.
Live performance by the Arcadia Players, a choral group founded in 1989 and the Da Camera Singers, a group of professional and amateur singers from the Pioneer Valley.