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Winnetou soundtrack

Winnetou and his friend Old Firhand

Winnetou and his friend Old Firehand (aka: Thunder at the Border, Winnetou and Old Firehand) was the 1966 finale of the Karl May adaptations by Horst Wendlandt’s Rialto Film. Alfred Vohrer (Perrak, Das gelbe Haus am Pinnasberg), described as a genius by cult director Quentin Tarantino, directed the film – moving away from the contemplative German towards the far more violent Spaghetti Western. This triggered an ambivalent response from critics and fans, with judgements ranging from “explosive” to “the low point of the series”.

A new path was also taken with the film music: Peter Thomas replaced Martin Böttcher as “Winnetou composer”. It was to remain the only Karl May film with Peter Thomas’ music; not surprising, since he was in his productive heyday. Between Edgar Wallace thrillers and Jerry Cotton action thrillers, he was more than well occupied. It was not until 1980 that Thomas returned to the subject with the music for the TV series “My Friend Winnetou”.

The result was a soundtrack that can be heard as a link between Böttcher’s Karl May string melodies and the clearly more experimental Italo-Western film music of, for example, an Ennio Morricone.

This album is the premiere of this score on vinyl. Of course, all 42(!) tracks have been remastered for it. The CD version also features three previously unreleased tracks found in Peter Thomas’ estate, as well as a bonus track with the composer himself at the piano, presenting the first theme suggestions to the film producer along with his spoken notes (recorded in 1966 at Bavaria Tonstudios, Munich).

Winnetou soundtrack