RIP Martin Böttcher.

German composer, arranger, conductor Martin Böttcher died on April 19, 2019, he was 91. Known to all Germans and western film fans as the composer for the majority of the Winneotou films of the 1960s. Böttcher’s melodic compositions set the tone for the series of West German Indian films which were succeeded by the so called Spaghetti westerns in the mid to late 1960. Without Böttcher there would be no Morricone. Born in Berlin, Germany on June 17, 1927, during WWII as a prisoner of war, Böttcher managed to get hold of a guitar and taught himself to play it. Following his release from captivity, he went to Hamburg. There he started his musical career with the then Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, in the dance and entertainment orchestra which had been newly founded by Willi Steiner, and which was held in high esteem in England. Thanks to producer Artur Brauner, Böttcher made his cinematic debut in 1955, composing the music for the military satire Der Hauptmann und sein Held. His second film score turned out to be a milestone in German film history. Die Halbstarken directed by Georg Tressler and starring Horst Buchholz, met with tremendous success. Mr. Martin's Band comprised the top German jazz musicians, among them Horst Fischer, Fatty George, Bill Grah, Ernst Mosch and Hans 'James' Last. Martin Böttcher found his greatest success in the 1960s composing the score for ten of the Karl May films, the first being Der Schatz im Silbersee with the famous "Old-Shatterhand-Melodie". The films starred, among many others, American actor Lex Barker and British actor Stewart Granger. The audience was enthusiastic about the wistful melodies, the fanfare-like music accompanying attacks, and the cheerful hillbilly tunes. Martin Böttcher's main themes from these films reached top positions in the German charts and sold thousands of records. The music for the Winnetou films is a landmark in German film music history. The success of these films, accompanied by Böttcher's music, made possible the "Spaghetti Westerns" with the music of Ennio Morricone. RIP to one of the great film composers of our time.