Battleship Potemkin is a 2005 album of electronic and orchestral music written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys, to accompany the 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin by Sergei Eisenstein. It is performed by Tennant, Lowe and the Dresdner Sinfoniker, conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer, with orchestrations by Torsten Rasch.[3] The album was released under the composers' names, Tennant/Lowe, as is customary with classical releases.[4] The album is produced by the Pet Shop Boys and Sven Helbig.
They wrote the music in the order it would be heard, using a DVD of the film as a guide. From the beginning they resolved to combine electronic music and strings. The lyrics of the three vocal pieces within it were largely inspired by the film's original subtitles, though one – "After All (The Odessa Staircase)" – was also prompted by the role of Trafalgar Square as a home of political dissent in London.[7][8][9]
Tennant and Lowe decided to ask Torsten Rasch to orchestrate the work after hearing his song cycle Mein Herz brennt, based on the music of the rock group Rammstein.[5] Torsten Rasch's orchestrations were recorded by the Dresdner Sinfoniker, conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer, in Berlin during July 2004.[9]
Performances
The first performance of the score on Sunday, 12 September 2004 in Trafalgar Square was one of the season's top events[citation needed] and drew a crowd of approximately 25,000.[10]
In September 2005, Pet Shop Boys and the Dresdner Sinfoniker took the concerts to Germany and performed in Frankfurt, Bonn, Berlin, and Hamburg to promote the release of the album. A performance took place on 1 May 2006 at the Swan Hunter’s Shipyard in North Tyneside with the Northern Sinfonia. Pet Shop Boys performed the score with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Barbican, London, on 11 January 2008.[11]
A performance of the film score in Red Square, Moscow, was discussed[9] but did not take place. In an interview for the BBC in September 2005, Neil Tennant mentioned that they had approached the governments of Iran and China about performing the film score live, but both countries declined the proposal.[12]
Tour dates
2004
12 September - Trafalgar Square, London, England.
2005
2 September - Alte Oper, Frankfurt, Germany.
3 September - Museumsmeile, Bonn, Germany.
4 September - Museumsmeile, Berlin, Germany.
5 September - Stadtpark, Hamburg, Germany.
2006
1 May - Swan Hunters Shipyard, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
20 July - Prager Strasse, Dresden, Germany.
29 July - Gardens of the Royal Palace of La Granja, Segovia, Spain.
The album was released on 5 September 2005, a year after the first performance.[13] A 7-inch mix of the song "No Time For Tears" was officially released as a b-side on the DVD format of the single, "Minimal". An orchestral mix of the song is included on the Fundamental: Further Listening 2005-2007 reissue.[14] The Battleship Potemkin album was not released in the United States until 2011.[15]
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