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Breaking Free - Soviet Cinema

Matthew Sweet reflects on the impact of the Russian Revolution and music on Soviet film, with scores for Battleship Potemkin, Alexander Nevsky, War and Peace and The New Babylon.

Matthew Sweet reflects on the impact of the Russian Revolution and music for Soviet film as part of the "Breaking Free" season, with scores for Battleship Potemkin, Alexander Nevsky, War and Peace, and The New Babylon.

Lenin declared "that of all the arts the important for us is the cinema" recognising the propaganda potential that it offered and means of spreading the message of Bolshevism across Russia. His enthusiasm for cinema prompted a surge of inventive film making that has given the world some of its most discussed and influential cinema, featuring scores from some of the leading composers of the day. Matthew charts Soviet Cinema through its music, from Eisenstein to Tarkovsky, with scores by Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev, Edmund Meisel, Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov and Eduard Artemiev, among others.

Available now

23 minutes

Last on

Sat 11 Nov 2017 15:00

Music Played

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony No 12 - 'The Year 1917' (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme Järvi.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON : 4594152.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 4.
  • Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov

    Zvenigora (1927) : extract

    Orchestra: Unknown.
  • Tikhon Khrennikov

    Mother (extract)

    Orchestra: Moscow Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra.
    • SOVIET : LP52.
    • SOVIET.
    • 1.
  • Alloy Orchestra

    Man With A Movie Camera (1929): extract

    Performer: Alloy Orchestra.
    • 10/12/13 Man With The Movie Camera.
    • Third Man Records.
    • 1.
  • Edmund Meisel

    Battleship Potemkin (1925): The Harbour at Odessa / The Odessa Staircase

    Orchestra: Orchestra Della Svizzeria Italiana. Conductor: Mark Andreas.
    • Battleship Potemkin / The Holy Mountain.
    • EDELTON.
    • 1.
  • Del Rey and the Sun Kings

    Battleship Potemkin (1925): The Ship Guns Roared!

    Performer: Jackson Del Rey. Performer: Max O'Leary. Performer: Jean Sudbury.
    • Del Rey & The Sun Kings ‎– Battleship Potemkin.
    • Trakwerx.
    • 12.
  • Neil Tennant

    Battleship Potemkin (1925): Comrades!

    Composer: Chris Lowe. Performer: Pet Shop Boys. Orchestra: Dresden Sinfoniker. Conductor: Jonathan Stockhammer.
    • Battleship Potemkin.
    • PARLOPHONE.
    • 1.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    The Gadfly (1955): Main Theme

    Performer: Dmitry Shostakovich.
    • Shostakovich Performs Shostakovich Volume One.
    • The Entertainment Group.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    The New Babylon (1927): Reel 1: General Sale. Death to the Prussians

    Orchestra: Basel Sinfonietta. Conductor: Mark Fitz-Gerald.
    • Shostakovich: New Babylon.
    • NAXOS 857282425.
  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Alexander Nevsky (1938) : Battle on the Ice / Final Chorus

    Choir: St Petersburg Teleradio Company Chorus. Choir: St Petersburg Cappella. Choir: St. Petersburg Chamber Choir. Orchestra: St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Yuri Temirkanov.
    • RCA : 09026619262.
    • RCA.
    • 9.
  • Gavriil Popov

    Chapaev (1934): Overture

    Orchestra: Unknown.
  • Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov

    War and Peace (1967): Petya and the French Drummer Boy

    Orchestra: The Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Choir: All Union Radio And TV Chorus. Conductor: Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov.
    • War & Peace - Original Soundtrack Recording.
    • Capitol Records.
    • 4.
  • Eduard Artemiev

    Solaris (1972): Dream / Return

    Performer: Eduard Artemiev.
    • Solaris, The Mirror, Stalker.
    • ELECTROSHOCK RECORDS.
    • 8.
  • Maurice Jarre

    Doctor Zhivago (1965): Main Title

    Orchestra: MGM Studio Orchestra. Conductor: Maurice Jarre.
    • Doctor Zhivago & Ryan's Daughter - Original MGM Soundtrack Recordings.
    • MGM.
    • 2.

Broadcast

  • Sat 11 Nov 2017 15:00

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