Musician and writer Karl Bartos has long been an admirer of Weimar-era culture. During hi ime 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. Narrative film music and sound design for Robert Wiene’s classic 1920 psychological thriller. 2012 – 2014 digitally restored in 4K by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation.
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.
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, with Bartos’ soundtrack, there is impressive sound to go with the haunting vision. 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.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is his first piece of film music and sound design.

Tracks:
01 Prologue 02 Scary Memories 03 Atonal Floating 04 Full of Life 05 In the Town Hall 06 At the Funfair 07 A Mysterious Crime 08 At The Funfair 2 09 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 10 Jane’s Theme 11 March Grotesque 2 12 Jane’s Theme 2 13 Shadows 14 Tragic Message 15 Suspicion 16 Tragic Message 2 17 The Plan 18 A Dark Figure 19 Caligari’s Theme 20 Arrest of the Suspect 21 Caligari’s Theme 2 22 Worried Jane 23 Interrogation 24 Jane’s Fear 25 Francis’s Observation 26 Cesare’s Attack and Escape 27 Safe and Sound 28 Francis at a Loss 29 Caligari’s Deception 30 Lunatic Asylum 31 In Search of the Truth 32 Out in the Field 33 The Director Rants and Rages 34 Scary Memories 2 35 Who’s mad here? 36 Francis Rants and Rages 37 Epilogue