Markus Horn's piano soundtrack combines elements of jazz, pop, classical and avant-garde, based on different musical themes, which are processed and developed - as you know it also from a "normal" film music. The difference lies in the large proportion of improvisation, where completely freely improvised passages alternate with thematic and motivic-oriented improvisations. This results in the live concert is a unique, powerful and lyrical accompaniment to the digitally restored version of Fritz Lang's masterpiece.
"Motivic work is one of the most important and most common techniques of film composers. Usually, it takes only a few motifs that serve as the basis for a complex film and music changed to be further developed and reinterpreted.
The motivic work was the only indication that I made for my music to "Metropolis", supplemented by a desire to play in sync as good as possible. All motifs were defined but not at a desk, but when improvising on film, provided with a lot of "creative freedom" as we know it from the Jazz. Many passages are improvised also completely free, others use the material or improvisation topics related to harmonic sequences, some follow certain interval or chord structures."
