Thomas Köner – Cineconcert Lotte Reiniger’s “Die Abenteuer Des Prinzen Achmed” (The Adventures Of Prince Ahmed)

Since 1994, Thomas Köner has composed music for silent films, which he usually accompanies alone or together with a small ensemble. His work has included many commissioned pieces for performances in the Auditorium du Louvre, Paris. Köner, who worked for a film sound studio as a sound designer in the 1990s, weaves elements from sound design, contemporary chamber music and pop avantgarde into his compositions. “Images and sounds have very different shelf lives,” said Köner, “We view music as old much faster. A hit from the 1920s seems almost ancient in comparison to a current production. In contrast, Lotte Reiniger’s rigorous aesthetics and expressive cuts still feel modern today.” Thomas Köner says that “each generation has the right and obligation to re-design the audio accompaniment for the images”. He does not attempt to imprint an almost one-hundred-year-old masterpiece like “Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed” with his sound. On the contrary, he aims to make the classic work relevant for a 21st century audience: “The music should leave space for the images – space in which the original power of the images is not restricted, space in which the images can breathe.”