2010 was the 200th anniversary of Mexican Independence and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. To celebrate this fact I composed a live musical score to accompany the silent film ‘QUE VIVA MEXICO’ by the Russian director Sergei Eisenstein.
We premiered the score at the Centro Sociale Angelo Mai in Rome with The Oktober Orchestra a group of sixteen musicians.
This was so successful that we continued and have given several performances since and have decided to offer it as a festival project. The size of the orchestra will depend on the budget available.
The genesis of my live score was two compositions that I wrote and recorded in the early nineties for a compilation c.d. on the French NATO record label which was dedicated to comic books published by Spirou Magazines and Les Edition Dupuis. The two pieces are titled Jerry Contro K.K.K. and Les Vengeurs Du Sonora.
My score for Que Viva Mexico is based on Les Vengeurs Du Sonora but also includes passages of free jazz improvisation, ambient exotica, Mexican pop and other original melodies.
The video above is extracts from the live performance and the rehearsal at Angelo Mai in Rome in 2011 featuring the Oktober Orkestra.
The size of the Oktober Orkestra depends on the budget available for a screening performance.
Below are my original ‘themes’ around which I composed the score for the Oktober Orkestra
QUE VIVA MEXICO – by Sergei Eisenstein – 1925. 80 minutes