(No portrait yet found.)
Gaston Louis Christopher Borch was born in Guînes, France, to a French woman (Emma Hennequin) and a Norwegian father (whose name I've been unable to discover, except that it's probably "Mr. Borch"). Mlle Hennequin was an excellent pianist and soprano, and reportedly was once engaged to be married to the composer Jules Massenet. It is known that she performed a concert in collaboration with Massenet in 1860, and corresponded with him until her death.
Gaston Borch played the cello, and studied composition with Jules Massenet in France, Bruno Liljefors at the Valands School of Fine Arts in Sweden, and with Svendsen in Copenhagen. From 1893 to 1899 he conducted various orchestras in Norway. He spent time in America, in 1899-1900 playing cello in Theodor Thomas' orchestra in Chicago (which was renowned for playing new and challenging music) and from 1903-1906 in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Victor Herbert (along with another future photoplay music composer, J.S. Zamecnik). He then returned to Europe as a conductor in Lausanne, Switzerland; and served as a guest conductor throughout Europe.
His guide book, Practical Manual of Instrumentation (1918) is an interesting window into the orchestras and orchestration techniques of the era, comparing the instrumentation of American and European theater orchestras, and describing methods of "cross-cueing" pieces so that the same arrangement can be used by groups ranging from piano trios up to large orchestras.
Borch was a prolific composer of photoplay music from about 1916 until his death, and also wrote standard classical works including at least one opera (Silvio, produced in Oslo in 1897 and Christiania in 1898). Some of his photoplay music pieces appear to be adapted from larger works -- perhaps other operas or ballets -- though I have been unable to substantiate this. His style ranges widely, from the achingly beautiful melodies of his Dramatic Tensions and Pathetic Andantes, through the Grieg-like folk qualities of his Mountain Music Suite and "Norwegian Folk Song," and the bizarre orientalism of his Indian and Oriental music, so crucial to our compiled score for the film Destiny. Borch's music can often be distinguished by his use of polyphony and counterpoint, as he is one of the only composers to regularly work fugual and contrapuntal techniques into this genre.
I am not aware of any complete film scores written by Borch, although one internet site mentions him in regard to the Swedish film Gosta Berling's Saga, giving credits as "Original music score arranged by Rudolf Sahlberg and Gaston Borch." This score would be fascinating to discover and perform if it still exists.
Norwegian
Folk-song (1916, Schirmer). mp3 file from Mont Alto's score
to The
Marriage Circle.
Andante Patetico e Doloroso (Schirmer's Photoplay Series Vol
3, 1918). An excerpt, from Mont Alto's score to Fritz Lang's film
Destiny.
(MIDI FILE) Andante Patetico e Doloroso (Schirmer's
Photoplay Series Vol 3, 1918). The entire piece in its piano-only
version, recorded for footage of Valentino's funeral, included
as an extra on the Kino Blood and Sand DVD.
Mountain Music III (Mountain Song). From Mont Alto's score
to Fritz Lang's film Destiny.
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