When talking about horror soundtracks it is important to start at the beginning. When film first achieved recorded audio, the soundtracks for early horror films were not exploited fully, with most just using music for title sequences, though this soon evolved into full musical scoring.
Films such as 'Bride of Frankenstein' paved the way for more ambitious use of music within the narrative, allowing film composers artistic freedom and experimentation with avant-garde techniques.
Creating dread and unease by employing such avant-garde techniques as atonality began an exciting new area of composition with some of these early techniques still being utilized decades later, and giving life to horror soundtracks being a genre of it’s own.
With the evolution of imposing visuals informing the musical narrative composers began to retrospectively soundtrack older silent horror films which brings me to this week’s spotlight; 'The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari'. Using the film as a visual framework, composers have been able to create their own original scores often performing them as a live accompaniment to the film.
'The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari’ is a wonderful example of the different techniques and styles that have evolved from the earliest horror scores to more contemporary electronic sounds and effects, In pivotal scenes such as the introduction of the somnambulist or the chase through the village it is exciting to hear the contrasting interpretations.
The film is also very accessible, with just a quick trip to YouTube you are afforded the luxury of hearing some of the different composers interpretations of the film and it’s themes for yourself.
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