Piano Man

Austrian pianist Gerhard Gruber,who is performing in the city tomorrow,feels that playing music for a silent film is akin to being the narrator of a story.

As a child,pianist Gerhard Grubers first influences were silent movies featuring Buster Keaton,Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy. Silent films are my first love, admits the Austrian composer and pianist,who has carved out a niche for himself in the field of silent cinema music.

Interestingly,he composes and plays the music while he watches the film with the audience. So each performance is different from the next as he improvises on the spot. If I had to think about what to play,I wouldnt be able to go with the movie. Everything happens in the moment. So I do not prepare by playing music to a film before the performance, points out Gruber,who will be performing on February 29 for the Austrian film Cafe Elektric at the NCPAs Dance Theatre Godrej.

Directed by Gustav Ucicky and set in a cafe in Vienna,this silent film revolves around Erni Göttlinger,the rich daughter of a construction entrepreneur,who gets attracted to a pickpocket,Herr Fredl. It stars a young Marlene Dietrich and is regarded as one of the greatest classics of world cinema. Gruber,of course,is no stranger to the genre,having played music for around 450 different films. He recollects how he chanced upon this career. I started back in 1988 when one of my students approached me to do the music for a film. That is how I found my long-lasting love, he says.

Ask him about the inspiration behind his music and the pianist says that it comes naturally to him. Music is all around us,I just have to relax and take in the sounds of the world. I use all the possibilities that music offers,such as rhythm and a fast tempo for hunting or fight sequences,some light music to accompany a good feeling,or a high pitch to show some tension. I need to have a feel of whats going on in order to be able to narrate it through my music, he says.

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