Battleship Potemkin

Artwork: Erin Bailey

In 2017, The Pit Orchestra was commissioned by Peninsula Arts (now The Arts Institute) at University of Plymouth to produce and perform an original score for Battleship Potemkin as part of their commemoration of the Russian Revolution centenary. The score, which took inspiration from Russian constructivism and early 20th century modernism, and contemporary composers like Stravinksy and Arseny Avramov, was in parts discordant, soaring, melancholic, triumphant and blistering. Using both traditional and experimental instrumentation, the eighteen musicians and performers, gathered via an open call, wrote and rehearsed for collectively hundreds of hours over 8 months. On the 11th November 2017, a sold out audience gathered in the Peninsula Arts theatre at University of Plymouth to watch the Pit Orchestra accompany Eisenstein’s masterpiece of early cinema. 

It was performed only once. 

Performed at: 

The Arts Institute, 2017

Players:

Chris Bailey, Chris Muirhead, Jay Newton, Tom Richardson, Cathy McCabe, Rosemary Babichev, Claire Bower, Alexandra Miranda, Jane Richardson, Sally Bell, Ieuan Jones, Shane McKenna, Georgia Simone, Sian Lowry, Rob Congdon, Sam Schofield.

Special thanks to:

Anna Navas