Chaplin's Smile: A Musical Tribute to Charlie Chaplin

Philippe Quint, violin

Co-presented by Irvine Barclay Theatre
Part of the Eclectic Orange Series sponsored by Judith and Howard Jelinek
Concert sponsored by Michelle and David Horowitz

It’s not well known that Charlie Chaplin, the unmistakable and endearing character in his bowler hat and mustache, composed almost all of the music in his films. He called himself “a poet, a dreamer, a lonely fellow…” and he said he wanted everything to be “a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large…”

Those contradictions appear in his music, too, and the effect is of a sweetness streaked with melancholy. Philippe Quint’s newest project is a lovingly chosen collection of eleven of Chaplin’s love songs, arranged for piano and violin. Quint was thrilled to discover these pieces; his uncanny understanding of each piece makes it so every song is bursting with the hilarity and heartbreak that Chaplin brought so touchingly to the big screen.

This unique program will juxtapose the music of Charlie Chaplin with those great composers he was influenced by, including Debussy, Stravinsky, Brahms, and Gershwin. The relationships Chaplin had with these compositional masters will be explored through music and story, including screen clips of Chaplin’s silent era films with musical accompaniment by Philippe Quint, and rare video footage of Chaplin conducting his orchestras in recording sessions!