The very different fates of Polish émigré musicians can well be illustrated by the example of Bronisław Mirski (birth name Moszkowicz), known overseas as Nek (Nicholas, Nick) Mirskey, though his family called him Bronek till the end of his life His assumed American name Nek probably comes from the diminutive of his Polish first name Bro-Nek, while Nicholas and Nick are the English versions of his middle name – Mikołaj. On deserting the Russian army in Odessa, Bronek came into possession of documents in the name of Mirski (Мирски), which he assumed upon his arrival in America. For more on the emigration of Polish composers to the United States, cf. M. Trochimczyk, ‘Exiles or Emigrants. Polish Composers in America’, in A. Mazurkiewicz (ed.),
Despite the hard beginnings in a foreign country on another continent, Mirski soon assimilated to the US society, learned the language, married an American, and after six years – obtained a citizenship. In a relatively short time, he also attained a stable professional status. As music director of movie theatres throughout the country, he was in charge of the musical settings for elaborate artistic programmes made up of silent films accompanied by live music as well as other stage attractions. This position, which Mirski held till the end of his life, involved working as a violinist and conductor, as well as arranger and composer. In his last years he was associated with Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, which was later transformed into today's Paramount Pictures, and was gaining monopoly in the market at that time. A chronic throat and lung disease, finally diagnosed as tuberculosis, led to Mirski's premature death in 1927. Aged less than 40, he passed away several months before the premiere of Alan Crosland's
Mirski is the only known Polish émigré musician who pursued a professional career in the silent film industry. Though in the US press he presented himself as a pupil of Ignacy Jan Paderewski (already residing in that country), and claimed he had learned the violin from the highly regarded Czech teacher Otakar Ševčík, he never made much success as a soloist. Mirski originally gave performances as a chamber musician, leader of a salon ensemble called Salon Orchestra Polonia, and earned some money as a violin teacher. However, he eventually found his proper place as a conductor of movie theatre orchestras. His professional activity coincides with the heyday of the silent film industry in the United States. Between 1915 and 1927, the movie theatre won an independent status as an institution, technology made it possible to shoot feature-length films, the system of movie stardom was born, and Hollywood earned the renown which it still enjoys today. Though the 1930s and 40s are referred to as ‘the Golden Age of Hollywood’, the golden age of silent movies had preceded it in the 1920s.
Music nowadays is 40% of the performance when your picture is good, but it is fully 90% when the picture is poor. The above, however, does not apply to just any music. Pictures require music of their own, and that's where I come in. Comprehension of dramatic values and climaxes, long experience, enormous orchestral library, enable me to portray musically every conceivable atmosphere, every mood, every human emotion, as depicted on the screen. It is my ambition to do this successfully and to translate it eventually into dollars and cents at the box office window ‘N. Mirskey, Wishes Position as Musical Director in a Moving Picture Theatre’,
This is how Bronisław Mirski advertised his skills in
In addition to his executive talents, Mirskey has an admirable gift for interpretation. His beat is crisp and incisive, his control over his players absolute. When he steps [sic!] from the podium and handed his baton to an associate, the same high quality of playing continued M.J. Rosenfield Jr., ‘After the Show: Mirskey’,
Most movie theatres that he worked for changed their programme every week, and regular shows alternated with so-called
The feature film was at the core of each programme, and largely defined its shape and structure. Press articles and advertisements have made it possible to identify more than 230 films for which Mirski compiled music over the dozen or so years of his work. Approximately 108 of them have been preserved to our times (in parts or as a whole); as many as 122 have been lost without a trace. The majority were US productions, documented in detail in a database resulting from a report on the state of preservation of American silent feature movies made in 1912–1929 American Silent Feature Film Database from the report ‘The Survival of American Silent Feature Films: 1912–1929’,
Mirski knew the silent films created by the above-listed directors nearly by heart. He selected suitable music to accompany them, scene after scene, sequence after sequence. He then conducted the thus formed compilations for seven successive days, up to several times a day. The immense effort required from a movie theatre music director is almost unimaginable. Each theatre orchestra had different performing forces, a somewhat different collection of music, and catered for different audience tastes. This makes it even harder to accept that so little of Mirski's work and its effects survives nowadays. The press very rarely commented on the music accompanying the films. Adverts for the movie theatres mostly promoted the films by printing the names of well-known filmmakers and actors, a short summary of the plot, the overture composer's name and title, as well as brief information concerning other elements of the programme (titles of the comedies and other shorts, names of guest artists, etc.). Film announcements and reviews sometimes mention the existence of a “special music score” arranged by the conductor, but we do not know what compositions it was made up of. Mirski himself explained:
Features are comparatively simple with the stories running true to certain rules, with star types, with synopsis, continuity sheet, music cue sheet, etc., available beforehand N. Mirskey, ‘How Music Helps Presentation of Pictures’,
While compiling music for specific movies, Mirski certainly made use of the officially published cue sheets, which indicated what pieces of music could be used as accompaniment for the given film fragment. They listed the title, composer, publisher, date of publication, duration of the fragment, as well as (though not always) – a few opening bars of the melody. Whenever such a cue sheet called for the use of works which could not be found in the local movie theatre's library, it was the music director's task to replace them with other suitable compositions. Such cues, however, were not available for every film, and they did not always reach the cinema on time. Mirski commented on this in his own text printed in 1919, when he was head of the Avenue Theater's amateur orchestra in DuBois.
For the last three days we played ‘Meeting Musician Mirskey of DuBois, Pennsylvania’,
Further on Mirski discussed in detail his strategy of preparing musical settings for films, and explained his choice of strongly dramatic, Oriental-style music in the minor keys to match Bara's film version of the tragic Biblical tale of Salome, granddaughter of Herod the Great. He decided to use works by such composers as Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Semyon Barmotin, Edvard Grieg, Arthur Rubinstein, Jean-Jacques Goldman, and Léo Delibes. For the passionate and diabolical final scene, he selected
The collection of music prints kept at the University of Pittsburgh and known as the ‘Mirskey Collection’ comprises c. 3,500 pieces of music which made up the conductor's private music library For a detailed description of the collection, see: C.E. Peña, ‘Photoplay Music from the Mirskey Collection at the University of Pittsburgh’, “At the beginning of motion pictures the theatrical managers realized that it was necessary to kill the silence,” said Mr. Mirskey. “They introduced music and believed that the pleasant sounds would help the patrons to enjoy the program. Now my idea is just the opposite. I believe that to have the audience enjoy the picture they should be made unconscious that there is any music there.” ‘Making Music for the Movies’,
Such an approach called for music so well suited to the film that it would form an ‘inaudible’ layer, allowing the audience to focus on the plot The concept of the ‘inaudibility’ of film music is strongly present in film studies and psychology studies on film music. For example, see: C. Gorbman, Catering to the ear must have lines drawn where it would interfere with the picture, which MUST be first at all times. And it works, since the human being cannot use any of his two senses together. That is he can look and listen at the same time, but he cannot see and hear. Once you become engrossed in the picture you hear only subconsciously. Once you begin to ‘listen,’ you still ‘look,’ but you don’t ‘see.’ Try it out on your loud speaker Mirskey, ‘How Music Helps…’, p. 14.
With a library of standard illustrative music at hand, Mirski was able to organise his film scores in ways which matched the tastes of the spectators. One of his main observations concerned the audience's musical preferences:
The average movie audience like variety. But it must be always tunes. Be it dramatic, or tragic, light or heavy, classic or jazz – it must be melodious to untrained ear Mirskey, p. 14.
Though Mirski was not as well known as some other conductors of the silent film era, especially those associated with New York, he scored considerable successes on the local level. He gained his experience in small cities and towns where professional musicians were in short supply. Despite this, the effects of his work earned him praise in the press. At Toledo's Hippodrome he played in a trio with a cello and piano; at Punxsutawny's Jefferson, the Avenue theatre in DuBois, and Broadway in Richmond, he directed orchestras mostly made up of amateur musicians. He owed his first ‘serious’ position to his participation in the First National Conference of the Association of Motion Picture and Musical Interest held in January 1921 in New York I.M. McHenry, ‘The American Concert Field: First National Conference’, The full list of members who signed up for the association during the conference was published in the
Mirski spent the years 1921–23 in the capital of the United States, already as a rightful US citizen Bronislaw N. Mirskey received his US citizenship on 7 July 1921 in Clearfield, PA. More about Knickerbocker Theatre's history: K. Boese, ‘Lost Washington: The Knickerbocker Theater’, Last week's trade journals, devoted to the interests of motion picture makers and exhibitors, carried glowing tributes to the skill of Bronislaw N. Mirskey, new musical director at Crandall's Knickerbocker theater, who works under the severe strain of having to score four pictures a week as opposed to the one which constitutes the problem of the director in a house where a single feature runs for a week or more. Mr. Mirskey previews every film screened at the Knickerbocker and devises his own orchestral setting
Mirski coped so well in his new post that after three months (as of 1 August 1921) he was promoted to the position of music director in Harry Crandall's most important Washington venue, the Metropolitan Theatre, situated in the very centre of the business district and a frequent venue for the Washington premieres of new films ‘Many Film Attractions in Washington Theaters’, More about Metropolitan Theatre's history: K. Boese, ‘Lost Washington: The Metropolitan’,
Mirski oversaw the complete musical setting of each programme, later presented in a similar form in six other theatres of Crandall's chain. The show invariably started with an orchestral overture, and included, in varying combinations, solo and chamber music numbers (such as preludes, interludes, and operatic prologues to films), as well as comedies and other short films (mostly dedicated to landscapes and nature), newsreels and other news services (such as Pathé News, Topics of the Day, Metropolitan World Survey, Literary Digest's “Fun from the Press”), and the feature film as its main element. From press adverts we learn that the orchestra usually performed the overture, as well as the feature film and newsreel live accompaniment, while the comedies received a jazz setting normally played by a duo consisting of the local organist and pianist. The other elements of the programme were performed by soloists and chamber ensembles.
Mirski's music programmes enjoyed great audience acclaim, and frequently earned him standing ovation ‘Ovation for Mirskey’, “So persistent has become the demand that N. Mirskey, conductor of the symphony orchestra at Crandall's Metropolitan Theater, finally has been forced to accede to the view that the house policy of two overtures a day should be changed to three. The concert overtures are played at 2:45, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., daily except Sunday, when the first rendition is at 3 […].” With the development of the motion picture, Mr. Mirskey displayed a remarkable gift of synchronization. His scores at the Metropolitan have been models of perfect timing of the orchestral number to the pictured scene ‘Many Soloists at Metropolitan Orchestra’,
The music that accompanied the films had a profound impact on their reception. High standards of the music programmes translated into booking office success. Other movie theatre owners therefore followed Harry Crandall's example and began to invest in well-educated musicians:
All, or nearly all, the leading photoplay houses have engaged conductors of ability, and some claim to have excelled the others in their musical programs, for in addition to the musical accompaniment, innovations have brought instrumental and vocal solos of high order. [...] Crandall's Metropolitan has evinced his faith in its fine musical aggregation to the extent of specially advertising the merits of its conductor and solo players. Under N. Mirskey, its conductor, it is claimed the Metropolitan orchestra has attained the dignity of a symphony organization. Mr. Mirskey is said to be a graduate of the Warsaw Conservatory and to have had wide experience both as a soloist and as conductor of symphony orchestras, with special talent for synchronising his musical arrangements to time with the action of the picture for which they are played ‘Amusement: The Theater’,
Apart from Mirski himself, the press also praised the 30-strong orchestra he conducted, which consisted of excellent soloists. The orchestra's reputation owed much to Harry Crandall's extensive publicity campaign. In Washington's Finest Orchestra is the appraisement placed by the music-loving public of the Capital upon the newly organized Symphony Orchestra of thirty solo artists at Crandall's Metropolitan Theater. In individual and ensemble finish and genuine musicianship this splendid organization stands supreme. Rich in instrumentation, including in its playing personnel honor graduates of the foremost conservatories of Europe as well as America, this versatile and highly artistic orchestra, under the leadership of a Bachelor of Music of the Warsaw Conservatory (Poland), daily offers overtures, solo numbers and musical interpretation of pictured drama not approached in quality by any organization in Washington, other than the Metropolitan Symphony, N. Mirskey, Conductor
Crandall's press adverts for his movie theatre orchestra constituted a precedent, commented on by an editor of the Harry Crandall, owner of the Metropolitan and other picture houses here, is heavily featuring his symphony orchestra at the Metropolitan in all advertising matter. The musical critics review their program in the musical sections weekly. Mr. Crandall runs two display ads on Sunday, a large one for his orchestra and a much smaller one for the picture attraction H. Meakin, ‘Washington’,
Several talented musicians played in the orchestra under Mirski's tenure The quotes about the musicians in the following two paragraphs come from the article: ‘Orchestra is Composed of Music Masters’,
Particularly abounding in talented musicians was the brass section: principal horn Ph. Corino, principal trumpet S. Li Calzi, and trombionist V. Squeo. According to a reviewer of
After two years of work with this orchestra, in late February 1923, Mirski demanded that the piano be removed and 1st and 2nd violins as well as violas reinforced, so that the orchestra could produce a properly rich orchestral sound which the piano was not quite capable of imitating ‘Filmograms’, Few laymen stop to consider that an orchestra is assembled to create, through the medium of melody and harmonics, the same effects that are achieved by actors on the stage or upon the screen. In the string basses and among the bass woodwinds are the tragedians, the deep-toned enunciators of all that is sinister and tragic; the first clarinet is known among all schooled orchestra men as “the prima donna of the orchestra;” the bassoon, as “the comedian,” and so on. It is in the skillful selection and balance of these choirs that the conductor finds his most difficult task ‘Orchestra is Composed of…’, p. 7.
Mirski first led the 30-piece Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra on 31 July 1921, starting the programme with Vincenzo Bellini's overture to
The overture was, musically speaking, one of the main elements of each programme. It opened the show and introduced the appropriate atmosphere. The concert overtures performed by the Metropolitan's orchestra included actual opera and operetta overtures, but also excerpts from musicals, suites, popular songs and traditional tunes, frequently in Mirski's own arrangements. For instance, the overture to
Most popular among the overtures conducted by Mirski at the Metropolitan Theatre was Mayhew M. Lake's
Such effects may also have accompanied the numbers played by soloists and chamber ensembles, which performed not exclusively on the stage, but also from other spots in the theatre, thus introducing interesting spatial effects. For instance, on 2 October 1921 Mirski made his Washington debut as a soloist ‘Music in Movies: Conductor-Soloist at “Metropolitan”’, ‘Metropolitan – “Dangerous Curve Ahead”’, ‘An Organ Innovation’,
Of key significance to many of the programmes was the specially prepared film prologue, usually operatic in character. For instance, tenor Alfredo Gonzales Padin re-enacted the opening scene of the movie Milton Schwartz (1909–2003) was a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington from 1930 to 1981. Early in his career, he served as concertmaster of an orchestra that provided accompaniment to silent films at the Earle Theatre in Washington, D.C. For more information, see: E. Robinson, ‘The Humble Beginnings of the National Symphony Orchestra’,
During the less than two years of his employment at the Metropolitan theatre, Mirski compiled musical settings for 81 films, which in each case were the highlights of the programme. These included as many as three German films starring Pola Negri, increasingly popular in the United States.
Of the US film productions presented at the Metropolitan in that period, 37 survive to our day, while 41 titles are considered lost. The period press only provides some few fragmentary clues as to the music that accompanied those films. For instance, the accompaniment for the 1921 drama based on the 1908 Broadway production
One of the best documented musical settings was the one which accompanied the two-hour US-Italian historical movie
Since Mirski was extremely successful as music director of the Metropolitan Theatre, he planned to settle with his wife in Washington for a longer time. Early in 1922 he wrote in a letter to his mother:
I have a good post here and will probably stay here for a long time, or even settle here for good, since Washington is a delightful city and the US capital. I enclose a press cutting which shows my orchestra in the theatre and the orchestra in which my wife is pounding away on the clavichord. Our company has 7 (seven) theatres in Washington; I conduct in the largest one but I am the music director of all the seven. Several months ago we bought our own house, which will be completely paid off in 3 to 4 years. We have 7 (seven) rooms, but only three of them are furnished. Even this is too much for us, since I spend all days and evenings in the theatre and have an awful lot of work. I try to drop in to our home for dinner once a week, but I mostly dine in a restaurant since going home and back again is too time-consuming, even though I have my own car and driving home from the theatre takes me just around 15 minutes Bronisław Mirski's letter to Regina Orzegowska, Washington, D.C., 16 January 1922, Family Archive.
The couple's plans were thwarted by one of the greatest construction disasters in Washington's history For more information, see: K. Ambrose, ‘Deaths in the Profession’, ‘Mirskey Conducts Again’, ‘Tribute to Orchestra’, ‘Music in Washington’,
In the autumn Mirski took up a temporary post in New York as a collaborator of Hugo Riesenfeld, music director at the Rivoli, Rialto, and Criterion theatres operated by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation ‘Musical Director’, ‘Music for the Movies’,
Mirski was a unique figure in that he was one of the few movie theatre orchestra conductors to have left behind a private collection of music prints complete with handwritten performance guidelines Information on similar collections can be found in: K.P. Leonard, A comparative analysis of materials from the ‘Mirskey Collection’ and original cue sheets has enabled the author to reconstruct Mirski's score for the film The materials were preserved by Mirski's sister Celina and inherited by her son, Tadeusz Strumff (b. 1933).