Karl Bartos, former Kraftwerk member, to release new soundtrack for ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’
Karl Bartos, former Kraftwerk member, to release new soundtrack for 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'
Out via Bureau B on February 9th is the all new Karl Bartos (former member Kraftwerk) soundtrack “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” which includes narrative film music and sound design for Robert Wiene’s classic 1920 psychological thriller. The film comes digitally restored in 4K by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation.
Musician and writer Karl Bartos has long been an admirer of Weimar-era culture. During his time in Kraftwerk, he helped create the stunning track ‘Metropolis’, directly inspired by a band viewing of the classic 1927 Fritz Lang film of the same name. The original orchestral music composed for “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” by Giuseppe Becce had long been lost and in 2005, after watching the film, Bartos imagined what it would be like, to create an entirely new one in the 21st Century in his home studios in Hamburg.
“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is his first piece of film music and sound design. The release is planned on double vinyl and digipak CD.
Now with crystal clear images, digitally restored by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation, the film is visually the best quality it has ever been, and now comes with Bartos’ soundtrack.
About Karl Bartos
Born in Germany in 1952, sound, music and culture have been a lifelong fascination for Karl. He studied at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Düsseldorf, played at the Deutsche Oper and was in several experimental bands before he joined Kraftwerk for their Autobahn tour of the US in 1975. He co-composed tracks and performed with the band until 1990 and is featured on the seminal albums “Radio-Activity” (1975), “Trans-Europe Express” (1977), “The Man-Machine” (1978), “Computer World” (1981), “Electric Café” (1986) and “The Mix” (1991).
After leaving Kraftwerk, he first formed the band Elektric Music (2 albums in 1993+1998), collaborated with Bernard Sumner (New Order), Johnny Marr (The Smiths) for their Electronic band project and with Andy McCluskey (OMD), and released two well-regarded solo albums (2003 & 2013).
In 2021, Karl Bartos was awarded the Early Influence Award / Kraftwerk as a member of the ‘classic line-up’ and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His autobiography “The Sound of the Machine – My Life in Kraftwerk and Beyond” was published in 2022 worldwide.
Below is the original film, albeit in less good quality for reference.
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