XX Scharnhorst

The battleship HMS Belfast is the setting for a work by Orlando Gough, written for two female choirs (80 singers) and 12 male percussionists, who play snare drum drills before taking their sticks to the actual body of the ship. The event which will be lit and amplified is a commemoration of the sinking of the German battleship Scharnhorst during World War II (only 36 out of its crew of 1,968 survived). HMS Belfast was one of the Allied ships responsible for this military feat. Gough has written a poignant and frenzied piece, which can be watched from the south bank of the Thames near Tower Bridge.