Metropolis 2027

Metropolis 2027: celebrate the centenary of the most revered sci-fi movie ever made - and perhaps the greatest silent film of all time - with a new live orchestra version closer to the vision of director Fritz Lang than any previously available. Based on the composer’s manuscript, this new edition of Gottfried Huppertz’s original 1927 score has been meticulously prepared by silent film expert Hans Brandner, and Ben Palmer, one of the world’s leading film-with-orchestra conductors. The new version restores music to the soundtrack that hasn’t been heard for around 95 years, refines Huppertz’s orchestration, and significantly improves the synchronisation between music and film.

About the film
Set in 2026, a futuristic urban dystopia, Metropolis was made with an extraordinary budget of five million Reichsmarks. The film was shot over 310 days, with 36,000 extras, and 200,000 costumes. Shortly after its premiere, however, the film was heavily altered and cut, and more than a quarter was considered lost. In 2008 an almost complete but heavily damaged copy was discovered in Buenos Aires, enabling the Murnau Stiftung’s 2010 restoration to reinstate much of the missing film. Because more music than film remains, Huppertz’s score must therefore be adapted to fit the picture.

About the music
Though many composers have subsequently rescored Metropolis, the film’s original 1927 soundtrack by Gottfried Huppertz (1887-1937), remains simply astonishing, both for its ambition and scope, and the influence it undoubtedly had on what was to become the Hollywood sound. Each character is given their own theme (or leitmotif), subjected to the most elaborate and subtle symphonic developments as the story unfolds. Scored for full orchestra and intended to be played live to picture, unusually it was Huppertz himself who made the version for “salon orchestra”, which would have been played in cinemas throughout Germany in the years after the film’s release. In 2023, Hans Brandner, Artistic Director of Babylon Orchester Berlin, and Ben Palmer, the orchestra’s Chief Conductor, premiered a new edition of this salon orchestra version, which forms the basis of this new version for full orchestra, Metropolis 2027.

Synopsis
The population of Metropolis lives in a strict two-class society. The rich and privileged live above ground. In his "New Tower of Babel", Joh Fredersen pulls all the strings and controls the heart of the system: the underground "Moloch" of machines and exploited workers. Fredersen's son Freder is the only privileged person to question the prevailing inequality and sets off for the workers' city to find the angelic Maria, who gives hope to the workers with sermons of love and classlessness. Fredersen, however, does everything in his power to stop Maria and the impending uprisings, and commissions the inventor Rotwang to build a robot who, as a double of Maria, is to plunge the workers into ruin.

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Ben Palmer

Scoring
2 Flutes (2° dbl. Piccolo)
2 Oboes (2° dbl. English Horn)
2 Clarinet
2 Bassoons
2 Alto Saxophones

4 Horns*
2 Trumpets*
3 Trombones
Tuba

Timpani
3 Percussion

Harp
Celesta
Organ (synthesiser or electric keyboard ad lib.)
Strings (min. 12.10.8.6.4)

*Due to the tiring nature of the brass parts, it is strongly suggested to engage at least one additional horn and trumpet as assistant principals

Metropolis 2027 Performances
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