Opportunities grew for Theodora Dutton when WWI broke out during the golden years of the silent film industry. As men entered the armed services, the booming movie industry turned to women composers to fill the demand for scores. I wonder if she could command the same compensation as her male colleagues.
Theodora Dutton was recognized as one of the best composers of scores for silent films. For example, Erno Rapee’ included three of her pieces in his reference for silent film accompanists, Motion Picture Moods. It’s facinating how he indexed the scores by subject in the margins for musicians providing a running score. You’ll find Valzer Appassionato under “Passion,” right between the classical composers Bizet and Mendelssohn.
(The sheet music for Valzer Appassionato is available at the end of this blog.)
An interesting quirk of this piece is that the end of the last page says, “D. C.” meaning da capo or repeat from the beginning; however, there is no “fine” or end! Was this a typo or was it her private statement about a passion being continuously rekindled?
I am so happy to announce that Jennifer Campbell has premiered the first ever recording of Valzer Appassionato! Jennifer brings such great feeling and insight to her performance and interpretation. When I first discovered Valzer Appassionato, I sent it to her right away. Please enjoy her recording, below.
An edited and cleaned version of Valzer Appassionato is available for download below, for whatever you can or choose to pay. Please click the PayPal link below if you can pay for your download and show your support for Theodora Dutton. Thank you!
https://paypal.me/theodoradutton1870?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US
Jean