Peter Thomas (composer)

Peter Thomas is a German composer/arranger. He was born in Breslau (Silesia) on 1 December 1925, and his active career spanned more than 50 years between 1955 and 2006.

He is known for his TV and film soundtracks (such as 'Raumpatrouille', the Edgar Wallace movies film series, and the Jerry Cotton film series). The restored Brandenburg Gate in Berlin was re-opened in 2002 with a live version of the main theme of the "Raumpatrouille"-soundtrack.

In his directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), actor George Clooney used three tracks of Peter Thomas' music originally composed for Edgar Wallace movies of the 1960s (in their original mono versions). The 1990s avant-garde band Mr. Bungle performed his piece "Love In Space" on several dates of their 1995/1996 tour for Disco Volante.

For some of his exceptional scores Thomas used a self-developed musical instrument called "ThoWiephon", today being exhibited in the "Deutsche Museum" in Munich, standing near the famous Theremin, also being used in many movies.

Selected filmography

• Moonwolf (Zurück aus dem Weltall, 1959)
• Escape to Berlin (Flucht nach Berlin, 1960)
• The Strange Countess (Die Seltsame Gräfin, 1961)
• The Puzzle of the Red Orchid (Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee, 1961)
• Only a Woman (Ich bin auch nur eine Frau, 1962)
• The Door with Seven Locks (Die Tür mit den sieben Schlössern, 1962)
• The Endless Night (Die Endlose Nacht, 1963)
• An Alibi for Death (Ein Alibi zerbricht, 1963)
• Die weiße Spinne (1963)
• The Squeaker (Der Zinker, 1963)
• The Indian Scarf (Das Indische Tuch, 1963)
• Stop Train 349 (Verspätung in Marienborn, 1964)
• Room 13 (Zimmer 13, 1964)
• The Ringer (Der Hexer, 1964)
• Traitor's Gate (Das Verrätertor, 1964)
• Uncle Tom's Cabin (Onkel Toms Hütte, 1965)
• The Last Tomahawk / The Last of the Mohicans (Der Letzte Mohikaner, 1965)
• Operation Hurricane: Friday Noon (Schüsse aus dem Geigenkasten, 1965)
• Manhattan Night of Murder (Mordnacht in Manhattan, 1965)
• Thunder at the Border (Winnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand, 1966 - Karl May film)
• That Woman (Playgirl - Berlin ist eine Sünde wert, 1966)
• The Trygon Factor (Das Geheimnis der weißen Nonne, 1966)
• The Blood Demon / Castle of the Walking Dead / Pendulum / The Snake Pit and the Pendulum / The Snake Pit / The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism / The Torture Room (Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel, 1967 - all titles used for one and the same movie)
• Jack of Diamonds (Der Diamantenprinz, 1967)
• The Zombie Walks (Im Banne des Unheimlichen, 1967)
• The Horror of Blackwood Castle (Der Hund von Blackwood Castle, 1967)
• The Man with the Glass Eye (Der Mann mit dem Glasauge, 1968)
• Van de Velde: The Perfect Marriage (Van de Velde: Die vollkommene Ehe, 1968)
• Death and Diamonds (Dynamit in grüner Seide, 1968)
• Every Night of the Week (Van de Velde: Das Leben zu zweit - Sexualität in der Ehe, 1969)
• Seventeen and Anxious (O Happy Day, 1970)
• Little Women (Die Weibchen, 1970)
• Chariots of the Gods (Erinnerungen an die Zukunft, 1970)
• Swedish Sin (Nach Stockholm der Liebe wegen, 1970)
• The Big Boss 1971 (Die Todesfaust des Cheng Li, 1973)
• The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of (Der Stoff, aus dem die Träume sind, 1972)
• Embassy of the Gods / Miracle of the Gods (Botschaft der Götter, 1976)
• Breakthrough (Steiner - Das eiserne Kreuz, 2. Teil, 1979)

External links

• Peter Thomas at the Internet Movie Database
• unofficial homepage (German + English)