Pet Shop Boys to unveil Alan Turing tribute at Proms
The Pet Shop Boys have announced a work honouring gay codebreaker Alan Turing, which they will debut at the BBC Proms.
According to the Independent, the group will perform ‘A Man From The Future’, a work in honour of Turing, at the July event.
Alan Turing was a mathematical genius and codebreaker, often credited as the grandfather of the modern computer, and lauded as instrumental to cracking German codes in the second world war.
He was prosecuted for gross indecency in 1952, after having a relationship with another man, and facing chemical castration, killed himself two years later.
The piece, based on based his life and work, will involve an orchestra, a choir, electronics and a narrator.
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe said in a statement: “It is an honour for us to be invited to present some new music at The Proms and to celebrate Alan Turing 60 years after his death.”
Roger Wright, director of the Proms, said it would be a “remarkable piece”.
He added: “It will be telling the Turing story but not strictly in a narrative way.”
The Pet Shop Boys collaborated with Turing biographer Andrew Hodges on the project, with orchestrations by Sven Helbig.
The group released a single that sampled a speech by drag queen Panti Bliss last year.
The proms open at the Royal Albert Hall on 18 July, while The Pet Shop Boys Prom will be held on 23 July.
