This weekend at the REDCAT Theater in Los Angeles, experimental composer Steve Horowitz and The Code Ensemble will be performing a new interpretation of David Shire's score to the 1974 film "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three." The performance will be accompanied by a film made by Jane Brill that incorporates images from the subway and samples from the gritty New York City thriller.
When Horowitz first came across a CD of the score for the original 1974 film "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3," he was blown away by the music. "I just completely fell in love with it," he says. "There was something about it that reminded me of my own music - I just felt really close with it."
He quickly began rewriting different variations of the score. And this was before he had even seen the film. Once he saw the movie, starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw, he decided to get in touch with his friend, filmmaker Jane Brill, to add a visual component to the performance.
Horowitz calls the result is "a triple layer cake of music, sound and multi-media." He says the project recontextualizes the concept of fear in a post-9/11 world.
Watch a video of "The Re-Taking of Pelham One Two Three":
Horowitz and the Code Ensemble will also be performing "Invasion From Chicken Planet":