Ben-Hur Reloaded

Ben-Hur Reloaded is a new musical work for rock band and orchestra by Mats Hermanson and Marcel Zürcher, arranged and produced by Matthias Spindler. The instrumental piece is being released as first digital single on the newly founded label Compofactur. From 5 December 2025, it will be available worldwide on many streaming platforms and from 4 December as Official Music Clip on YouTube.

100 years ago, Fred Niblos legendary epic film Ben-Hur was released, based on Lewis Wallace’s 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The novel was the most printed book after the Bible in the 19th century. The film took three years to produce and was the most expensive film of its time. The famous chariot race scene is masterfully shot with spectacular camera movements and angles (42 cameras) that still fascinate viewers today. The film is considered the pinnacle of the silent film era. After that, the era of sound films began.

The Roman Messala and his childhood friend Judah Ben-Hur are the focus of the chariot race after their friendship has broken down. Ben-Hur Reloaded is a tribute to this epoch-making film. The heroic story of Ben-Hur, who managed to free himself from slavery and ultimately emerged victorious in the chariot race, is reinterpreted with a musical focus on two key scenes from the silent film.

Spindler was able to get Marcel Zürcher on board for a collaboration on this genre-spanning music. Zürcher played various guitars and created an exciting remix of the piece. Marcel has made a name for himself as a drummer in bands such as Abwärts, Girls under Glass, Razzia, Schwanensee, Shanghai’d Guts and Hanin Elias. He later switched to electric guitar and played with the band Die Krupps for many years. Marcel currently plays in the bands of Joachim Witt and Stephan Weidner. At the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Italy, he represented Germany together with Eros Atomus as guitarist and co-author.

Matthias Spindler works as a music producer, arranger, composer, orchestrator and music publisher. He has written arrangements for albums by several internationally renowned classical artists, which have often reached number 1 in the international classical charts or been awarded the OPUS KLASSIK prize. Beyond the world of classical music, Spindler has worked as an arranger, composer and co-producer in recording and TV studios with musicians such as Hanno Busch, Claus Fischer, Felix M. Lehrmann, Craig Leon, Arto Mäkelä, Simon Oslender, Hendrik Smock, Thomas Stieger and Westbam.