Klaus Doldinger, one of Germany’s most important composers, died on Thursday (October 16th). In 2020, Klaus Doldinger remembered working on one of his most legendary soundtracks – “The Neverending Story“brought to the screen in 1984 by Wolfgang Petersen and Bernd Eichinger based on the novel of the same name by Michael Ende. “I wanted to be understood,” said Doldinger, then 84, about recording the symphonic score. Read the interview with him here.
A call to Klaus Doldinger
There is rustling and a quiet, busy panting can be heard on the other end of the line. Then the connection is broken. Silence.
But only for a short time.
Callback from Klaus Doldinger.
The telephone cord wasn’t long enough, it didn’t reach his wing.
He had tried to tighten it and pulled the cable out of the socket. Hence the silence. That’s why he switched to a second phone, a cordless one. Now here we go. He takes a seat on the stool. “Now please listen.”
The sound of fantasies
Atreyu flies over the landscapes of Fantasy on Fuchur’s back. The music quickly picks up speed. The brass is the wind. The strings are the rays of sunshine. It is the melody of “Flying on the Lucky Kite”.
Doldinger plays it on the piano, and all the instruments in his orchestra mentally join in. Music that is dreamlike and, in contrast to “The NeverEnding Story” sung by Limahl and composed by Giorgio Moroder, not cheesy.
The lightness of the soundtrack is transferred to the film dialogues. The fear of not being able to save Fantasy disappears. Atreyu Fuchur asks whether he knows where the “nothing” is. “I have no idea!” he replies cheerfully. “Then how can we find the human child?” The lucky dragon’s ambiguous answer: “With luck.”
Between saxophone and fantasy
Doldinger also has to giggle. Then another rustling. He puts the receiver down a second time. And picks up the saxophone. “Because that’s possible after all.”
“The Flight of the Lucky Dragon” sounds in a version that cannot be heard on the soundtrack. Doldinger plays with vibrato, and this version would also be at home in a jazz bar.
He puts his saxophone back.
Remembering the 1980s
The Neverending Story has a symphonic score. How would he describe the music?
Doldinger remembers the early 1980s. “In Germany, classical music developed in an abstract direction.” It was the era of modern music that people couldn’t sing to each other.
“As a commissioned piece, I could deliver something like that at any time. But it wasn’t really my thing, regardless of the fact that it was sometimes necessary to compose like that. I liked something else better: memorable pieces.”
Doldinger says the beautiful sentence: “I wanted to be understood.” A flight on the kite should be understood as a flight, the farewell to a beloved horse, “Atax’s death”, should be mourned. The “haunted city” should be frightening. His music for The Neverending Story is poetic and celebratory. She takes her fantasy world seriously. Anyone who laughs at the score is not because of Doldinger, but because of the Limahl song that was added later and produced by Giorgio Moroder.
Music as the language of the heart
And Doldinger starts a third time to intonate his own music. He begins to no longer play the title motif over the phone on the piano or saxophone, but to sing: “Lade ladaadaa, ladidi …”
It was the most famous film score of 1984. If there was anything missing from the production, it was this score. Klaus Doldinger’s commitment completed the model cast for the most expensive film released in this country. Bernd Eichinger was the brave producer. Wolfgang Petersen the talented action drama director. Brian Johnson, the British luminary of special effects. And Doldinger is Germany’s most famous soundtrack composer.
Petersen and Doldinger had been friends for several years. In 1976 he wrote the music for his TV film “Four Against the Bank” and in 1981 for “Das Boot”, whose orchestral title melody, accompanied by an echo sounder sound, is still present today.
Between jazz and cinema
Klaus Doldinger, born in 1936, comes from jazz; most photos show him with a saxophone or clarinet. But early on, he says, he consciously spoke out against being categorized as “jazz musician” or “soundtrack composer.”
In 1962 he founded the Klaus Doldinger Quartet, toured the globe and received honorary citizenship of New Orleans. The breakthrough in film in 1970. He wrote the Tatort motif, whose recognition value on German television is probably unmatched. Doldinger describes the process laconically: “They showed me something. I showed them something. That was it.” And Doldinger became the John Williams of Germany.
To date he has released more than 50 albums and 2,000 pieces. The significance of a particular work, says Doldinger, is defined by its timelessness. And “The Neverending Story” is at the top of his list. “The whole nation was talking about the novel, everyone was talking about the filming. I feel very lucky to have been hired.”
The soundtrack became his most complex cinematic work. “The composition was also crucial for my own development,” says Doldinger, who was 47 years old when filming began. Petersen and Eichinger showed him selected film scenes. He developed three to four central themes that he played or sang to them on piano and keyboard. After putting together an orchestra, his friend Curt Cress joined, who many considered to be the most competent drummer in this country.
Friendships and film history
Doldinger says he was unaware of the disputes between Michael Ende and Bernd Eichinger. Also that he never felt any pressure in view of a 60 million DM production.
When asked how much time he had available to compose, Doldinger gives an answer that is both spontaneous and astonishing. She proves his connection to the almost 40-year-old film: “I should just check my calendar!” He apparently has his files on The Neverending Story handy.
Music and life
If the Corona crisis hadn’t put a damper on his plans, Doldinger would have been on tour long ago. When we spoke in December 2020, he was 84 years old and he released the album Motherhood with his band Passport in the same year. His old friend is one of the guest artists Udo Lindenbergwho started as a drummer in his group in 1971.
The theme tune of the “Neverending Story” is an integral part of his concerts. On stage he uses his favorite instrument, the saxophone.
As long as performances are out of the question due to the Covid pandemic, he will play his songs at home. Every day.
As loud as he wants because he lives in the country.
Klaus Doldinger speaks of the gifts that life has given him: “I look at the Isar Valley, and if I want, I can be in Munich in half an hour. I have lived here since 1968, with my wife Inge, to whom I have been married for 60 years. I have five grandchildren, and the sixth will soon be added. I am grateful for this life. And grateful for the music that I was able to compose.”
The conversation with Klaus Doldinger is an edited excerpt from the book “A Lifetime Full of Fantasy – The Fantastic Cinema: Rise, Fall and Comeback (Schüren, 2021).