MOVIE MUSIC UK

Composer Klaus Doldinger died on October 16, 2025, at his home in Germany after a short illness. He was 89.

Klaus Erich Dieter Doldinger was born in May 1936, in Berlin, Germany. He studied piano and clarinet at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Düsseldorf before turning to the tenor saxophone, which quickly became his primary instrument. By the late 1950s he had established himself as a leading figure in West Germany’s post-war jazz scene, performing with ensembles such as the Feetwarmers and the Klaus Doldinger Quartet.

In 1971, he founded the fusion group Passport, a pioneering ensemble that combined elements of jazz, rock, and electronic music. The group’s long-running success earned Doldinger recognition as one of Europe’s foremost jazz innovators, and he was often referred to as “Germany’s jazz ambassador.”

Doldinger began writing music for film and television projects as early as 1968, but first came to international prominence with his score for Wolfgang Petersen’s claustrophobic submarine thriller Das Boot in 1981, which received worldwide acclaim for its tense, atmospheric writing. His sweeping and adventurous music for the 1984 children’s fantasy The NeverEnding Story, based on the classic novel by Michael Ende, raised his profile further in Europe, and it remains probably his most beloved work in film, although the North American release of the film saw his bold orchestral score mostly replaced with an electronic one by Italian disco composer Giorgio Moroder.

Domestically, he was perhaps best known for writing the theme for the long-running German crime series Tatort (1971), whose opening motif remains one of the most recognizable in German television history. Other popular and successful film and TV projects scored by Doldinger include Baal (1970), Derrick (1974), The Swiss Conspiracy (1976), Der Alte (1977), Ein Fall Für Zwei (1981), Salt on Our Skin (1992), and Palmetto (1998).

Over the course of his career, Doldinger composed more than 2,000 works and performed in thousands of concerts across Europe and abroad. He was the recipient of numerous honors, including the Bavarian Order of Merit and the Echo Jazz Lifetime Achievement Award.

On a personal note, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview Doldinger and fellow jazz composer Jean-Michel Bernard on stage at the Krakow Film Music Festival in 2017, and to witness up-close his intellect, thoughtfulness, and improvisational jazz genius.

Doldinger is survived by his wife, Inge, and their three children.