Pet Shop Boys to debut new music based on the life of Alan Turing at BBC Proms

The concert will take place at London's Royal Albert Hall on July 23

Pet Shop Boys are set to premiere new music inspired by WWII codebreaker Alan Turing at the BBC Proms.

A Man From The Future will be unveiled at London’s Royal Albert Hall on July 23 with the duo backed by the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers. The piece is described as “an evocation of the life and work” of Turing, who at the end of last year was granted a royal pardon for his conviction for homosexuality. Turing committed suicide in 1954. The piece will feature a narrator reading from a text based on Andrew Hodges’ book Alan Turing: The Enigma.

Speaking about the concert, the Pet Shop Boys said: “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.” The evening will also include an orchestral medley of Pet Shop Boys songs and new orchestral arrangements by David Lynch’s musical collaborator Angelo Badalamenti of music by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe.

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Earlier this year Pet Shop Boys recorded a new song based on a gay rights speech made by a drag queen, which had gone viral on YouTube. Panti Bliss, already a leading gay rights figure in Ireland, saw his fame go global after making a speech condemning homophobia in Ireland at an event at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre in February. Madonna, Stephen Fry and Graham Norton were among those to send message of support to Panti, real name Rory O’Neill.

In March, Pet Shop Boys posted new song ‘The Best Gay Possible’ on their website. It featured all 10 minutes of the speech set to a trance track. Singer Neil Tennant wrote: “Check this out” with a link to the track, which can be heard here.

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