David DiDonato spent about four years creating an industrial soundtrack for Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent film “Metropolis” and now performs it live with the movie. He says the score reflects its themes of class struggle and conflict between humans and machines.
DiDonato started the project around 2014 by scoring a scene in which workers maintain the machine that runs the city. He felt the orchestral score did not match the urgency of a gong scene and envisioned heavy industrial sounds, including drums, synthesizers, bass and guitars. Some 30 seconds of music could take hours to perfect.
His first performance was at Austin’s North Door around 2018 and was well received, after which he took the show on the road. He performs in Texas theaters with scores for “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” and “Häxan” as well as “Metropolis,” hoping to bring new audiences to silent films.
