Ian Deterling

The Cabinet of Caligari for orchestra

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Op. 5 (2014)

  • Orchestra

  • ca. 4:30

Score/Parts PDF Previews

Program Notes

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is silent German expressionist film from 1920. Considered by many to be the first 'true' horror film, Caligari was incredibly innovative with its use of cinematography, warped sets, and the first substantial use of what is now known as the ‘plot-twist’ ending. The title character of the film, Dr. Caligari, has a cabinet - (believe it or not!) - and in this cabinet lives the somnambulist (the sleepwalker), Cesare, who goes around carrying out the Dr.’s evil deeds.

  • Directed by Robert Wiene and staring Werner Krauss and Conrad Veidt, The Cabinet of Dr. Calagari continues to influence, inspire, and captivate filmmakers even today. This work for orchestra makes use of several themes used in Deterling's score that he composed to accompany the film:

    • ’Dr. Caligari’ theme [A] - first heard in bassoons and horns in measures 5-6.

    • ‘Dr. Caligari’ theme [B] - first heard in oboe 1 and clarinets in measures 13-14.

    • ‘Cesare’ theme - first heard in bassoons, low brass, and low strings in measures 20-22.

    • ‘Jane/Love’ theme - first heard in flutes and clarinet 1 measures 61-64.

    • ‘Plot twist is about to happen’ theme - first heard in violins 1 & 2 measures 113-116.

  • Instrumentation:

    • 2 Flutes

    • 2 Oboes

    • 2 Clarinets in Bb

    • 2 Bassoons

    • 4 Horns in F

    • 3 Trumpets in Bb

    • 2 Tenor Trombones

    • Bass Trombone

    • Tuba

    • Timpani

    • Percussion 1: Xylophone, Crash Cymbals

    • Percussion 2: Suspended Cymbal, Bass Drum, Tambourine, Tam-tam

    • Harp (optional)

    • Violin 1

    • Violin 2

    • Viola

    • Violoncello

    • Double Bass

What do I get when I order The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Op. 5?

  • You will receive the score and parts in the form of three PDFs:

    • Score formatted to Tabloid paper, 11” x 17” (279mm x 432mm)

    • Score formatted to US Letter-size paper, 8.5” x 11” (216mm x 279mm)

    • Complete set of parts

  • Once your order has been processed, you’ll be emailed a link where you can download the sheet music.

  • When you click on the link to download your music, you’ll be brought to the download page (see image)

Download page for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Op. 5

  • Note that the score and parts are separated into different PDF files.

  • You can download everything (‘Download All’ button at the bottom), save the files to Dropbox, or download selected score/parts individually.

  • My website is set to three download attempts (see ‘3 downloads remaining’ in the image). If an error occurs or if you need additional download attempts, contact me here and I’ll reset the limit for you.