The Hunchback of Notre Dame Silent Film with live improvised organ accompaniment

Oxford Festival of the Arts is really pleased to be able to announce a series of silent films with improvised music on the grand Eule Organ (with its unique fantastical and colourful sound-world, with 45 stops over four manuals and pedals – including Physharmonica – free reeds sounds, and a Tuba which requires its own blower, owing to the pressure required to support such a big sound!) at Magdalen College antechapel.

In 1482 Paris, Quasimodo, the isolated, disfigured bell‑ringer of Notre Dame, is drawn into a dangerous chain of events when his master forces him to abduct Esmeralda, a kind‑hearted Roma dancer. After she is rescued by Captain Phoebus, tensions rise between the city’s aristocracy, the underworld led by Clopin, and the church. As jealousy, political ambition, and forbidden love collide, Esmeralda seeks sanctuary in the cathedral, setting the stage for a looming showdown around Notre Dame.

David Bednall is published by Choral Music Publishing, Oxford University Press, Boosey and Hawkes, Faber, and Novello. He is Choral Director of Clifton Cathedral, Musical Director of Bristol Bach Choir, Bristol Chamber Choir and Chew Valley Choral Society, alongside an extensive freelance career. He was previously Organ Scholar at The Queen’s College, Oxford, and then at Gloucester Cathedral, Assistant Organist at Wells Cathedral, Sub Organist at Bristol Cathedral and has improvised on live radio, and performed extensively in the UK and abroad, including at Notre-Dame de Paris – and even was stunt organist on Dr Who! His compositions are widely performed, recorded, and broadcast on BBC Radio and Classic FM. David’s St Mark Passion was commissioned for the BBC Singers in 2025.

Number of discounted tickets available. Please use appropriate discount code at the checkout:
FESTIVALCONCESSIONS (Over 60s, Universal Credit, Disability, Companion)
FESTIVALSTUDENT (Under 18s, Students)