Gottfried Huppertz’s 1927 score for Lang’s “Metropolis” is one of the greatest orchestral film scores ever written. Lang’s other silent films also have gigantic orchestral backdrops.
The 60’s saw an incredible array of German film scores for the Edgar Wallace krimi adaptations – and also for a series of westerns based on the novels of Karl May (often starring Pierre Brice who is featured in your clips) – many with wonderful music provided by such composers as Martin Bottcher and Peter Thomas. Bear Records has the most beautiful box set of scores that I own, "Wilder Westen - Heiser Orient - Karl May Film music 1936-1968 (VBR)", which collects the music for the Westerns and other films. The 8 CDs that are accompanied by a gorgeous, large, coffee-table book, are:
CD1 - Der Schatz Im Silbersee; Winnetou I (Martin Böttcher) CD2 - Winnetou II; Unter Geiern (Martin Böttcher) CD3 - Der Ölprinz; Winnetou III (Martin Böttcher) CD4 - Old Surehand; Winnetou Und Das Halbblut Apanatschi (Martin Böttcher) CD5 - Winnetou Und Shatterhand Im Tal Der Toten; Der Schut (Martin Böttcher) CD6 - Old Shatterhand (Riz Ortolani); Das Vermächtnis Des Inka (Angelo Francesco Lavagnino) CD7 - Der Schatz Der Azteken; Die Pyramide Des Sonnengottes (Erwin Halletz); Winnetou Und Sein Freund Old Firehand (Peter Thomas) CD8 - Durchs Wilde Kurdistan; Im Reiche Des Silbernen Löwen (Raimund Rosenberger); Die Sklavenkarawane / Der Löwe Von Babylon (Ulrich Sommerlatte); Durch Die Wüste (Gottfried Huppertz)
The music of Peter Thomas is, I believe, also on Bear and other labels. Fassbinder’s films often contain superb scores – I recall there are collections of those, too.
Like any other country, Germany has a rich history of film scoring of all shapes and sizes!
Cool, so there are commercially available scores from Germany. Thanks! We only like what we hear right? Previewing German movies online (like on YT) opens up a whole new door I never thought about before.
