Klaus Doldinger

Das Boot

Meanwhile, this German film, based on the book by Lothar Buchheim, already belongs to the classics. Very vivid, catchy and expressive, this film music can definitely stand on its own. Doldinger combines the title theme almost suggestively with the respective 'appearance' of the submarine. Thus the version for wind orchestra also begins with the approach and surfacing of the U-96, with special effects such as machine noises and echo sounder being taken over by a synthesizer. After the 'surfacing', an appeal is musically described; fanfare-like and polyphonically processed signals musically lead to the attack. Timpani, as on galley ships, trumpet interjections symbolizing gunfire, and horn signals propel the boat forward. The two following episodes, Departure and Remembrance, are a retrospective. In Departure, the theme is again taken up very quietly, leading into the romantic, minor-key Remembrance. The film music in the arrangement for symphonic wind orchestra has, contrary to that of the film, a happy ending. With 'Heimkehr' the odyssey ends in an exuberant conclusion that pulls through all the stops.''