Peter Thomas is a German composer/arranger. He was born in Breslau (Silesia) on 1 December 1925, and his active career spanned more than 50 years between 1955 and 2006.

He is known for his TV and film soundtracks (such as 'Raumpatrouille

Raumpatrouille

Raumpatrouille – Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffes Orion , colloquially also known as Raumpatrouille Orion, and Space Patrol Orion in English, was the first German science fiction television series...

', the Edgar Wallace movies film series, and the Jerry Cotton

Jerry Cotton

Jerry Cotton is the fictional character in a series of crime novels by many different writers in German-speaking countries and in Finland.- Overview :...

 film series). The restored Brandenburg Gate in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 was re-opened in 2002 with a live version of the main theme of the "Raumpatrouille"-soundtrack.

In his directorial debut, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a 2002 biographical spy film depicting the life of popular game show host and producer Chuck Barris, who claimed to have also been an assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency...

 (2002), actor George Clooney

George Clooney

George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...

 used three tracks of Peter Thomas' music originally composed for Edgar Wallace

Edgar Wallace

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was an English crime writer, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and numerous articles in newspapers and journals....

 movies of the 1960s (in their original mono versions).

For some of his exceptional scores Thomas used a self-developed musical instrument called "ThoWiephon", today being exhibited in the "Deutsche Museum

Deutsches Museum

The Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of technology and science, with approximately 1.5 million visitors per year and about 28,000 exhibited objects from 50 fields of science and technology. The museum was founded on June 28, 1903, at a meeting of the Association...

" in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, standing near the famous Theremin

Theremin

The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...

, also being used in many movies.

Films (excerpt)

• Moonwolf (Zurück aus dem Weltall, 1959)
• Escape to Berlin (Flucht nach Berlin, 1960)
• The Strange Countess (Die Seltsame Gräfin, 1961)
• The Puzzle of the Red Orchid
  The Puzzle of the Red Orchid
  The Puzzle of the Red Orchid is a 1962 German crime film directed by Helmut Ashley and starring Christopher Lee.-Cast:* Christopher Lee as Captain Allerman* Adrian Hoven as Inspector Weston* Marisa Mell as Lilian Ranger* Pinkas Braun as Edwin...
  
   (Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee, 1961)
• Only a Woman (Ich bin auch nur eine Frau, 1962)
• The Door with Seven Locks (Die Tür mit den sieben Schlössern, 1962)
• The Endless Night (Die Endlose Nacht, 1963)
• An Alibi for Death (Ein Alibi zerbricht, 1963)
• The White Spider (Die Weiße Spinne, 1963)
• The Squeaker (Der Zinker, 1963)
• The Indian Scarf (Das Indische Tuch, 1963)
• Stop Train 349 (Verspätung in Marienborn, 1964)
• Room 13 (Zimmer 13, 1964)
• The Ringer (Der Hexer, 1964)
• Traitor's Gate
  Traitor's Gate (film)
  Traitor's Gate is a 1964 German-British co-production crime film directed by Freddie Francis and starring Albert Lieven and Gary Raymond. It was made by Rialto Films using Hammer Films' Freddie Francis and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster updating the 1927 novel by Edgar Wallace to present times...
  
   (Das Verrätertor, 1964)
• Uncle Tom's Cabin (Onkel Toms Hütte, 1965)
• The Last Tomahawk / The Last of the Mohicans (Der Letzte Mohikaner, 1965)
• Operation Hurricane: Friday Noon (Schüsse aus dem Geigenkasten, 1965)
• Manhattan Night of Murder
  Manhattan Night of Murder
  Manhattan Night of Murder is a 1965 German thriller film directed by Harald Philipp and starring George Nader, Heinz Weiss and Monika Grimm...
  
   (Mordnacht in Manhattan, 1965)
• Thunder at the Border / Massacre a la Frontiere (Winnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand, 1966 - Karl May film)
• That Woman (Playgirl - Berlin ist eine Sünde wert, 1966)
• The Trygon Factor
  The Trygon Factor
  The Trygon Factor is a 1966 British-German comedy crime film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Stewart Granger, Susan Hampshire and Robert Morley. Its German title was Das Geheimnis Der Weissen Nonne. It is based on the Edgar Wallace novel Kate Plus Ten.-Cast:* Stewart Granger - Supt...
  
   (Das Geheimnis der weißen Nonne, 1966)
• The Blood Demon / Castle of the Walking Dead / Pendulum / The Snake Pit and the Pendulum / The Snake Pit / The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism / The Torture Room (Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel, 1967 - all titles used for one and the same movie)
• Jack of Diamonds (Der Diamantenprinz, 1967)
• Hand of Power (Im Banne des Unheimlichen, 1967)
• The Horror of Blackwood Castle (Der Hund von Blackwood Castle, 1967)
• The Man with the Glass Eye (Der Mann mit dem Glasauge, 1968)
• Van de Velde: The Perfect Marriage (Van de Velde: Die vollkommene Ehe, 1968)
• Dynamite in Green Silk (Dynamit in grüner Seide, 1968)
• Every Night of the Week (Van de Velde: Das Leben zu zweit - Sexualität in der Ehe, 1969)
• Seventeen and Anxious (O Happy Day, 1970)
• Little Women (Die Weibchen, 1970)
• Chariots of the Gods (Erinnerungen an die Zukunft, 1970)
• Swedish Sin (Nach Stockholm der Liebe wegen, 1970)
• The Big Boss
  The Big Boss
  The Big Boss, previously known by its U.S. title Fists Of Fury is a 1971 Hong Kong martial arts action crime thriller film. The Big Boss was Bruce Lee's first major film. It was written to star James Tien; however, Lee's strong performance relegated Tien, already a star in Hong Kong, to second...
  
  1971 (Die Todesfaust des Cheng Li, 1973)
• The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of (Der Stoff, aus dem die Träume sind, 1972)
• Embassy of the Gods / Miracle of the Gods (Botschaft der Götter, 1976)
• Sergeant Steiner / Breakthrough (Steiner - Das eiserne Kreuz, 2. Teil, 1979)

External links

• unofficial homepage (German + English)
• semi-official homepage created for Peter Thomas for his 80th birthday by the SMV Schacht Musikverlage GmbH (German)