The Phantom of the Opera (1962 film)
Encyclopedia
The Phantom of the Opera is a 1962 British film based on the novel by Gaston Leroux
. The film was made by Hammer Film Productions
.
London
on a December night in 1900.
The first night of the season at the London Opera House
finds the opening of a new opera by Lord Ambrose D'Arcy (Michael Gough
), a wealthy and pompous man, who is annoyed and scornful when the opera manager Lattimer (Thorley Walters
) informs him the theater has not been completely sold out. No one will sit in a certain box because it is haunted.
Backstage, despite the soothing efforts of the opera's producer, Harry Hunter (Edward de Souza
), everyone, including the show's star, Maria, is nervous and upset as if a sinister force was at work. The climax comes during Maria's first aria, when a side of the scenery rips apart to reveal the body of a hanged stage hand. In a panic, the curtain is rung down, and Maria refuses to sing again.
With the show postponed, Harry frantically auditions new singers. He finds a promising young star in Christine Charles (Heather Sears
), one of the chorus girls. D'Arcy lecherously approves of the selection, and invites Christine to dinner.
In her dressing room after the audition, Christine is warned against D'Arcy by a phantom voice. At dinner, D'Arcy attempts to seduce her, but as they are about to leave to his apartment, she is saved by Harry.
On the ride back home, Christine tells Harry about the voice she heard. Intrigued, Harry takes Christine back to the opera house, where in her dressing room, a voice tells Harry to leave her there and go. At the same time, a rat catcher is murdered by the Phantom's lackey, a dwarf (Ian Wilson
). Investigating the murder, Harry leaves Christine by herself, where she is approached by a man dressed in black, wearing a mask with only one eye—The Phantom of the Opera. Her scream scares the man away, and Harry takes her home.
The next day, D'Arcy sends his dismissal to Christine, and when Harry refuses to accept a more willing but less talented singer, he is also dismissed. Visiting Christine at her boarding house, Harry finds some old manuscripts which he recognizes as a rough draft of the opera he has been producing. Questioning Christine's landlady Mrs. Tucker, he learns that it was written by a former boarder by the name of Professor Petrie, who had been killed in a fire at a printers that was to print his music.
Making further inquiries, he learns that Petrie did not actually perish in the fire, but was splashed with Nitric Acid
while apparently trying to extinguish the blaze, had run away in agony and was drowned in the River Thames
. This is confirmed by the policeman who was in the area at the time, but the body was never recovered. Harry is convinced that D'Arcy stole Petrie's music, but leaves it at that, as he believes the real composer is long since dead.
That night, confronted in her bedroom by the dwarf, Christine faints from fright and is carried off. She returns to consciousness, deep in the cellars of the opera house, to see the same one-eyed Phantom as earlier, playing a huge pipe organ. He tells the frightened girl that he will teach her to sing properly, and rehearses her with fanatical insistence until she collapses from exhaustion.
Meanwhile, Harry, reinstated as the opera producer, is worried about Christine's disappearance. Pondering the story of the mysterious Professor, he checks the river where he had last been seen. At that same moment, he hears the echo of Christine's voice emanating from a storm drain, and soon finds himself following the voice through one of London's water-filled sewers. The faint sound of the organ playing draws him down a tunnel where the dwarf attacks him with a knife. Harry subdues him, and finds himself facing the missing Professor as Christine looks on from a bed (she'd been sleeping).
In a flashback, the elderly Phantom relates how, five years before, as a poor and starving composer, he had been forced to sell all of his music, including the opera, to Lord Ambrose for a pitifully small fee with the thought that his being published would bring him recognition. When he discovered that D'Arcy was having the music published under his own name, Petrie became enraged and broke into the printers to destroy the plates.
In burning sheet music that had already been printed, Petrie unwittingly started a fire, then accidentally splashed acid on his face and hands in an effort to put it out, thinking it was water. In terrible agony, he ran out, jumped into the river, and was swept by the current into an underground drain, where he was rescued and cared for by the dwarf, whose passion was music and who existed in the cellars underneath the opera house. The Phantom predicts a great operatic future for Christine, and Harry agrees to allow him time to complete her voice coaching.
When the opera is presented several weeks later, Lord D'Arcy is confronted in his office by the Phantom and runs out screaming into the night when he rips off his mask and sees his terrifying face. As the curtain rises, with Christine in the lead role, the Phantom watches eagerly in the "haunted" box. Her performance brings him to tears as he hears his music finally presented.
Listening enraptured to the music, the dwarf is discovered in the catwalks by a stage-hand, and in the chase, he jumps onto a huge chandelier poised high above the stage over Christine. As the rope begins to break from the weight, the Phantom spots the danger and leaps from his box to the stage, throwing the girl safely from harm. The Phantom of the Opera is impaled by the chandelier before the eyes of the horror-stricken audience.
, and the success of the 1943 remake
, Universal was interested in revisiting the story again. The first plans for remake were in-studio, with William Alland producing and Franklin Coen writing. Plans for this remake fell through, but upon the success of the distribution of Horror of Dracula
for Hammer, Universal decided to let the British outfit tackle the project instead, and the project was announced in February, 1959.
Two months later, Hammer Pictures struck a five-year deal with Columbia Pictures
to produce five films a year. On these terms, Hammer's previous arrangements (such as The Mummy
for Universal Studios
and The Hound of the Baskervilles
for United Artists
) could be fulfilled, but thereafter, could only produce two pictures a year for other studios. Phantom of the Opera was among the announced for Universal.
Over the next two years, the project fell on and off the charts. In 1960, the project was connected with Kathryn Grayson
, although she had not been in pictures for some years. According to producer Anthony Hinds
, the romantic lead (Harry Hunter) was written for Cary Grant
, who had expressed his interest in doing a Hammer horror film, at a time when it was common for American actors to be featured in British films. He was not, as is often supposed, slated to play the Phantom himself.
Production for the film started in November, 1961. As with most of the Hammer productions, the film was shot at Bray Studios
. Many of the exterior sets were on the backlot and had been used in a number of Hammer productions previously. Interiors of the "London Opera House" were filmed at the Wimbledon Theatre
in London, which was rented for three weeks. Over 100 musicians and chorus people were hired for the shoot. The film had a reported budget initially of £200,000, but it was reported after principal shooting to be £400,000, both figures unusually high for a Hammer film.
All of the flashback scenes showing how Professor Petrie became the Phantom were filmed with "Dutch angle
s", meaning the camera was noticeably tilted to give an unreal, off-kilter effect - a time-honored method in film of representing either a flashback or a dream.
The Phantom of the Opera opened in New York City
on August 22, 1962 at the RKO Palace Theater. In person was Sonya Cordeau, who played "Yvonne" in the picture. Cordeau later went on tour with the film for Universal.
Herbert Lom's performance is often praised by critics, and Mike Sutton from the webpage Dvdtimes.com had this to say about Lom's performance: "Herbert Lom's performance as the sad, deformed Petrie is a triumph in every respect. Using exquisitely subtle body language and managing, somehow, to make the expressions in his single eye tell a whole story of pain and frustration, Lom is unforgettable. It may be heretical to say this but when I think of the Phantom of the Opera, it is Lom who comes immediately to mind."
When the film had its American TV premiere on NBC, additional footage of Scotland Yard police inspectors (played by Liam Redmond
and John Maddison
) looking for the Phantom was filmed to pad out the running time. The footage was shot at Universal Studios and Hammer Productions had no input whatsoever. The Kiss of the Vampire
and The Evil of Frankenstein
also had American-shot footage added to their television showings as well. This was a common practice when it was thought that parts of the film were too "intense". These scenes were edited out and more acceptable scenes replaced them or extended the running time.
's Toccata and Fugue in D minor
, a well-known piece of church organ music that is commonly associated with horror films, mainly due to the music's association to this film.
Gaston Leroux
Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction.In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera , which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon...
. The film was made by Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
.
Plot
The film opens in VictorianVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on a December night in 1900.
The first night of the season at the London Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
finds the opening of a new opera by Lord Ambrose D'Arcy (Michael Gough
Michael Gough
Michael Gough was an English character actor who appeared in over 150 films. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for his roles in the Hammer Horror films from 1958, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four movies of the Burton/Schumacher Batman franchise,...
), a wealthy and pompous man, who is annoyed and scornful when the opera manager Lattimer (Thorley Walters
Thorley Walters
Thorley Walters was an English character actor.He is probably best remembered for his comedy film roles such as in Two-Way Stretch and Carlton-Browne of the FO...
) informs him the theater has not been completely sold out. No one will sit in a certain box because it is haunted.
Backstage, despite the soothing efforts of the opera's producer, Harry Hunter (Edward de Souza
Edward de Souza
Edward James de Souza is a British character actor and graduate of RADA with ethnic Portuguese Indian and English origins.-Early life:...
), everyone, including the show's star, Maria, is nervous and upset as if a sinister force was at work. The climax comes during Maria's first aria, when a side of the scenery rips apart to reveal the body of a hanged stage hand. In a panic, the curtain is rung down, and Maria refuses to sing again.
With the show postponed, Harry frantically auditions new singers. He finds a promising young star in Christine Charles (Heather Sears
Heather Sears
Heather Christine Sears: , was a British stage and screen actress.-Biography:Although not from an acting family , she was already acting in plays at the age of five and even writing them at the age of eight...
), one of the chorus girls. D'Arcy lecherously approves of the selection, and invites Christine to dinner.
In her dressing room after the audition, Christine is warned against D'Arcy by a phantom voice. At dinner, D'Arcy attempts to seduce her, but as they are about to leave to his apartment, she is saved by Harry.
On the ride back home, Christine tells Harry about the voice she heard. Intrigued, Harry takes Christine back to the opera house, where in her dressing room, a voice tells Harry to leave her there and go. At the same time, a rat catcher is murdered by the Phantom's lackey, a dwarf (Ian Wilson
Ian Wilson
Ian Wilson may refer to:* Ian Wilson , Australian politician* Ian Wilson , Irish composer* Ian Wilson , English cinematographer...
). Investigating the murder, Harry leaves Christine by herself, where she is approached by a man dressed in black, wearing a mask with only one eye—The Phantom of the Opera. Her scream scares the man away, and Harry takes her home.
The next day, D'Arcy sends his dismissal to Christine, and when Harry refuses to accept a more willing but less talented singer, he is also dismissed. Visiting Christine at her boarding house, Harry finds some old manuscripts which he recognizes as a rough draft of the opera he has been producing. Questioning Christine's landlady Mrs. Tucker, he learns that it was written by a former boarder by the name of Professor Petrie, who had been killed in a fire at a printers that was to print his music.
Making further inquiries, he learns that Petrie did not actually perish in the fire, but was splashed with Nitric Acid
Nitric acid
Nitric acid , also known as aqua fortis and spirit of nitre, is a highly corrosive and toxic strong acid.Colorless when pure, older samples tend to acquire a yellow cast due to the accumulation of oxides of nitrogen. If the solution contains more than 86% nitric acid, it is referred to as fuming...
while apparently trying to extinguish the blaze, had run away in agony and was drowned in the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. This is confirmed by the policeman who was in the area at the time, but the body was never recovered. Harry is convinced that D'Arcy stole Petrie's music, but leaves it at that, as he believes the real composer is long since dead.
That night, confronted in her bedroom by the dwarf, Christine faints from fright and is carried off. She returns to consciousness, deep in the cellars of the opera house, to see the same one-eyed Phantom as earlier, playing a huge pipe organ. He tells the frightened girl that he will teach her to sing properly, and rehearses her with fanatical insistence until she collapses from exhaustion.
Meanwhile, Harry, reinstated as the opera producer, is worried about Christine's disappearance. Pondering the story of the mysterious Professor, he checks the river where he had last been seen. At that same moment, he hears the echo of Christine's voice emanating from a storm drain, and soon finds himself following the voice through one of London's water-filled sewers. The faint sound of the organ playing draws him down a tunnel where the dwarf attacks him with a knife. Harry subdues him, and finds himself facing the missing Professor as Christine looks on from a bed (she'd been sleeping).
In a flashback, the elderly Phantom relates how, five years before, as a poor and starving composer, he had been forced to sell all of his music, including the opera, to Lord Ambrose for a pitifully small fee with the thought that his being published would bring him recognition. When he discovered that D'Arcy was having the music published under his own name, Petrie became enraged and broke into the printers to destroy the plates.
In burning sheet music that had already been printed, Petrie unwittingly started a fire, then accidentally splashed acid on his face and hands in an effort to put it out, thinking it was water. In terrible agony, he ran out, jumped into the river, and was swept by the current into an underground drain, where he was rescued and cared for by the dwarf, whose passion was music and who existed in the cellars underneath the opera house. The Phantom predicts a great operatic future for Christine, and Harry agrees to allow him time to complete her voice coaching.
When the opera is presented several weeks later, Lord D'Arcy is confronted in his office by the Phantom and runs out screaming into the night when he rips off his mask and sees his terrifying face. As the curtain rises, with Christine in the lead role, the Phantom watches eagerly in the "haunted" box. Her performance brings him to tears as he hears his music finally presented.
Listening enraptured to the music, the dwarf is discovered in the catwalks by a stage-hand, and in the chase, he jumps onto a huge chandelier poised high above the stage over Christine. As the rope begins to break from the weight, the Phantom spots the danger and leaps from his box to the stage, throwing the girl safely from harm. The Phantom of the Opera is impaled by the chandelier before the eyes of the horror-stricken audience.
Production
Based upon the interest generated by the Phantom of the Opera sequence in the Lon Chaney Sr. biopic, Man of a Thousand FacesMan of a Thousand Faces
Man of a Thousand Faces is a film detailing the life of silent movie actor Lon Chaney, in which the title role is played by James Cagney.Directed by Joseph Pevney, the film's cast included Dorothy Malone, Jane Greer and Jim Backus...
, and the success of the 1943 remake
Phantom of the Opera (1943 film)
Phantom of the Opera is a 1943 Universal horror film starring Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster and Claude Rains, directed by Arthur Lubin, and filmed in Technicolor. The original music score was composed by Edward Ward....
, Universal was interested in revisiting the story again. The first plans for remake were in-studio, with William Alland producing and Franklin Coen writing. Plans for this remake fell through, but upon the success of the distribution of Horror of Dracula
Dracula (1958 film)
Dracula, also known as Horror of Dracula in the United States, is a 1958 British horror film. It is the first in the series of Hammer Horror films inspired by the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. It was directed by Terence Fisher, and stars Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Carol Marsh, Melissa Stribling and...
for Hammer, Universal decided to let the British outfit tackle the project instead, and the project was announced in February, 1959.
Two months later, Hammer Pictures struck a five-year deal with Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
to produce five films a year. On these terms, Hammer's previous arrangements (such as The Mummy
The Mummy (1959 film)
The Mummy is a 1959 Technicolor British Hammer Horror film starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.Though the title suggests Universal Pictures' 1932 film of the same name, the film actually derives its plot and characters entirely from two later Universal films, The Mummy's Hand and The Mummy's...
for Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
and The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959 film)
The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1959 British detective film produced by Hammer Films and directed by Terence Fisher.The film is the first adaptation from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel of the same name to be filmed in colour and stars Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, Sir Christopher Lee as...
for United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
) could be fulfilled, but thereafter, could only produce two pictures a year for other studios. Phantom of the Opera was among the announced for Universal.
Over the next two years, the project fell on and off the charts. In 1960, the project was connected with Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson was an American actress and operatic soprano singer.From the age of twelve, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to MGM by the early 1940s, soon establishing a career principally through her work in musicals...
, although she had not been in pictures for some years. According to producer Anthony Hinds
Anthony Hinds
Anthony Hinds , aka Tony Hinds, aka John Elder, is a British screenwriter and producer. He is the son of the founder of Hammer Film Productions, William Hinds.-Early life:Tony Hinds was educated at St Paul's School...
, the romantic lead (Harry Hunter) was written for Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, who had expressed his interest in doing a Hammer horror film, at a time when it was common for American actors to be featured in British films. He was not, as is often supposed, slated to play the Phantom himself.
Production for the film started in November, 1961. As with most of the Hammer productions, the film was shot at Bray Studios
Bray Studios (UK)
Bray Studios is a film and television facility at Bray, near Windsor, Berkshire, England. The films Alien and The Rocky Horror Picture Show were shot there...
. Many of the exterior sets were on the backlot and had been used in a number of Hammer productions previously. Interiors of the "London Opera House" were filmed at the Wimbledon Theatre
New Wimbledon Theatre
The New Wimbledon Theatre is situated on The Broadway, Wimbledon, London, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a Grade II listed Edwardian theatre built by the theatre lover and entrepreneur, J B Mullholland. Built on the site of a large house with spacious grounds the theatre was designed by...
in London, which was rented for three weeks. Over 100 musicians and chorus people were hired for the shoot. The film had a reported budget initially of £200,000, but it was reported after principal shooting to be £400,000, both figures unusually high for a Hammer film.
All of the flashback scenes showing how Professor Petrie became the Phantom were filmed with "Dutch angle
Dutch angle
Dutch tilt, Dutch angle, Dutch shot, oblique angle, German angle, canted angle, Batman angle, or jaunty angle are terms used for one of many cinematic techniques often used to portray the psychological uneasiness or tension in the subject being filmed...
s", meaning the camera was noticeably tilted to give an unreal, off-kilter effect - a time-honored method in film of representing either a flashback or a dream.
The Phantom of the Opera opened in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on August 22, 1962 at the RKO Palace Theater. In person was Sonya Cordeau, who played "Yvonne" in the picture. Cordeau later went on tour with the film for Universal.
Herbert Lom's performance is often praised by critics, and Mike Sutton from the webpage Dvdtimes.com had this to say about Lom's performance: "Herbert Lom's performance as the sad, deformed Petrie is a triumph in every respect. Using exquisitely subtle body language and managing, somehow, to make the expressions in his single eye tell a whole story of pain and frustration, Lom is unforgettable. It may be heretical to say this but when I think of the Phantom of the Opera, it is Lom who comes immediately to mind."
When the film had its American TV premiere on NBC, additional footage of Scotland Yard police inspectors (played by Liam Redmond
Liam Redmond
Liam Redmond was an Irish actor known for his stage, film and television roles.-Early life:Redmond was one of four children born to carpenter Thomas and Eileen Redmond...
and John Maddison
John Maddison
John Clarkson Maddison, was a New South Wales politician, Attorney General, Minister for Justice and Deputy Leader for the Liberal Party of New South Wales in the cabinets of Robert Askin, Tom Lewis and Sir Eric Willis until the Liberal party lost the 1976 election...
) looking for the Phantom was filmed to pad out the running time. The footage was shot at Universal Studios and Hammer Productions had no input whatsoever. The Kiss of the Vampire
The Kiss of the Vampire
The Kiss of the Vampire also known as Kiss of Evil, is a 1963 British vampire film made by the film studio Hammer Film Productions...
and The Evil of Frankenstein
The Evil of Frankenstein
The Evil of Frankenstein is a 1964 British horror film made by Hammer Studio. Directed by Freddie Francis, the film stars Peter Cushing and New Zealand wrestler Kiwi Kingston....
also had American-shot footage added to their television showings as well. This was a common practice when it was thought that parts of the film were too "intense". These scenes were edited out and more acceptable scenes replaced them or extended the running time.
Cast
- Herbert LomHerbert LomHerbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...
as The Phantom/Professor Petrie - Heather SearsHeather SearsHeather Christine Sears: , was a British stage and screen actress.-Biography:Although not from an acting family , she was already acting in plays at the age of five and even writing them at the age of eight...
as Christine Charles - Edward de SouzaEdward de SouzaEdward James de Souza is a British character actor and graduate of RADA with ethnic Portuguese Indian and English origins.-Early life:...
as Harry Hunter - Michael GoughMichael GoughMichael Gough was an English character actor who appeared in over 150 films. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for his roles in the Hammer Horror films from 1958, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four movies of the Burton/Schumacher Batman franchise,...
as Ambrose D'Arcy - Thorley WaltersThorley WaltersThorley Walters was an English character actor.He is probably best remembered for his comedy film roles such as in Two-Way Stretch and Carlton-Browne of the FO...
as Lattimer - Harold GoodwinHarold Goodwin (English actor)Harold Goodwin was an English actor born in Wombwell, Yorkshire, England.Goodwin trained at RADA and was a stage actor at Liverpool repertory theatre for 3 years...
as Bill - Marne MaitlandMarne MaitlandJames Marne Maitland was an Anglo-Indian character actor in British films and television programmes.He made his film debut in Cairo Road , and went onto be type cast as villains from the Far East, particularly for Hammer Film Productions...
as Xavier - Miriam KarlinMiriam KarlinMiriam Karlin, OBE was a British actress who worked on screen for over 60 years. She was best known for her role as Paddy in The Rag Trade, a 1960s BBC and 1970s LWT sitcom , especially for her catchphrase "Everybody out!"...
as Charwoman - Patrick TroughtonPatrick TroughtonPatrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...
as The Rat Catcher - Renee HoustonRenee HoustonRenée Houston was a Scottish comedy actor and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles.Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, as Katherina Houston Gibbin, she toured music halls and revue with her sister Billie Houston as the Houston Sisters.In 1926, the sisters made a short musical film,...
as Mrs. Tucker - Keith PyottKeith PyottKeith Pyott was a British actor.He transferred from stage to screen and was a regular face in drama in the early days of television, appearing in The Prisoner, Out of the Unknown, The Avengers, and the Doctor Who story The Aztecs.He also appeared in over twenty feature films, including Orson...
as Weaver
Music
The music in this movie features Johann Sebastian BachJohann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's Toccata and Fugue in D minor
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
The Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, is a piece of organ music attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. It is one of the most famous works in the organ repertoire, and has been used in a variety of popular media ranging from film, video games, to rock music, and ringtones...
, a well-known piece of church organ music that is commonly associated with horror films, mainly due to the music's association to this film.