John Partridge Set to Haunt Sonoma with Eerie ‘Nosferatu’ Soundtrack
Silent film fans and horror enthusiasts are in for a chilling treat as local composer John Partridge brings his haunting score to F.W. Murnau’s 1922 classic, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.
The one-off matinee will take place at 2 p.m. on 5 October in Andrews Hall at the Sonoma Community Center, 276 East Napa Street.
“Besides being a really creepy horror film, ‘Nosferatu’ shows us a very different style of movie-making than we see in contemporary films,” Partridge explained.
“‘Nosferatu’ is not ‘realistic.’ The characters are more like something from a fairytale, and if you accept that fact, it’s a very powerful story.”
The German silent horror film, an early adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), will be introduced by classic film enthusiast and author Jennifer Churchill.
She described the movie as “one of the first films to truly haunt audiences. If you haven’t seen it, you might be shocked at how scary it still is today. Introducing audiences to silent films is my passion, and ‘Nosferatu’ is the perfect gateway.”
The screening promises an authentic 1920s experience. Viewers will notice flickering frames, grainy visuals, and the subtle tremor of original reels.
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, 1922. pic.twitter.com/9YRj5pE2v2
— | nsfw (@horrorsthetics) April 10, 2025
Dialogue appears sparingly, while actors’ exaggerated gestures convey the story. All this is elevated by Partridge’s live score.
“Silent films were never actually silent,” Churchill said. “With music accompaniment, the suspense is sharper, the scares hit harder, and the whole room experiences the magic together.”
Partridge’s soundtrack fuses Eastern European and Nordic melodies to heighten the tension. On the challenge of composing for the film, he noted, “The challenge as an accompanist is to knit the scenes together and follow and underpin the emotional flow of the film.
For Nosferatu, one of the primary flows is the journey that takes the hero of the film from the normal world he knows to a surreal world that terrifies and bewilders him.”
The film is rated PG-13. Tickets are$ 10 and can be bought in advance. All proceeds benefit the Sonoma Community Center. For tickets and further details, visit sonomacommunitycenter.org or call 707-938-4626.
A fat Bay Area musician, captain, and pantomime, John Partridge’s work spans church music, pieces, and ragtime adaptations.
His latest production, The Passion of Joan of Arc, which premiered at the Sebastiani Theatre in June, told the story of Joan’s rise to fame during the Siege of Orleans.
