Post by Justin Ayd

NBC Newsreel (16mm, 1966) Interview with silent film composer Arthur Kleiner. Born in Vienna, Austria in 1903, Mr. Kleiner studied piano, organ and theory at the Vienna Music Academy from 1914 to 1921. In 1939 he began composing, arranging and playing the piano accompaniments for silent films at The Museum of Modern Art for 28 years. After his retirement in 1967, he moved to Minnesota, where he would occasionally come out to play shows at the Walker Art Center and Guthrie Theater in the 1970s, while continuing to work internationally. He passed away on March 31, 1980 in Hopkins, Minnesota at age 77. One year later, the Kleiner Collection was donated to the University of Minnesota by Mrs. Kleiner. It contains music scores, both printed and manuscripts, for nearly 700 silent films.