Amenizar, sincronizar, significar: Música y cine silente en Chile, 1910–1930

Abstract

This article deals with discussions and debates about the relationship between music and silent cinema in Chile. During the 1910s and 1920s music altered cinema’s functionality. It shifted from the role of enlivening cinematic spectacles to a more complex one in which the challenge was synchronizing the content of images with appropriate music. The analysis here makes clear that this was part of a global phenomenon that included Chile. This becomes evident through analysis of Erno Rapée’s 1924 compilation that synthesized cinematic musical practices that are possible to trace not just in the United States but in different Chilean cities.