Hermann Kopp — Der Golem

Jörg Buttgereit's Nekromantik is an underground classic, well known even by those that have yet to witness its perverse love story and bloody climax...literally. However, the man behind the score, Hermann Kopp, has been weaving tense, eerie scores into two other Buttgereit films, as well as releasing many well-received solo works. His love of cinematic scoring hit another milestone when he scored the Wegener silent classic, Der Golem, in 2025. After two different presentations (Paris and Wroclaw), his modern score for the expressionist classic is now available through Cold Spring Records. Engaging all on its own, cinephiles will want to cue up their copy of Der Golem, a copy of Kopp's new score, hit play, and see the film with entirely new eyes.

There is something about the German Expressionist films that works with music from all eras. Their daring sets, dramatic lighting, and evocative angles leave the door wide open for sonic accompaniment, with works a century later fitting perfectly against the lush artistry on the screen. In this case, Hermann Kopp's score is based on violin, viola, and synthesizer, a modern take on a classic, for sure, but his dark, brooding work pits modern expression against 1920's expression, and the two fit marvelously (*note: I haven't listened to this score while viewing the film, and am basing it off of my memory from last viewing a few years ago). Kopp's ability to weave varied styles and instrumentation together mesh well with the expressionist visual approach, mixing classic with bizarrely ultra modern, removing the work entirely from specific timeline and placing it in a magical space, always accessible, always now. So a modern score like Kopp's works as well as the original, but to my ears, even better. There's a subtle harshness to it, whether it's in the tones or the noise, but that helps reflect the grit of both the film and the story; strings and sines writhing like clay joints of an automaton. No stranger to horror, Kopp plays on the darkness very well, with his score being far spookier than one would expect, but not over the top or garish. Restraint is key, and Kopp plays his music exactly to the level required by the film. At some moments, it feels as tense as the original A Nightmare on Elm St score, and others, it drifts with gorgeous experimentalism, a dream captured by machine, much like the film that it represents. Above, I mentioned that German Expressionist films play well with modern music, so I wanted to share a quick anecdote of my own noodlings. One night, probably twenty or so years ago, I wanted to make my own "Wizard of Oz/Dark Side of the Moon" and randomly chose "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and Crawl Unit's Stop Listening. No research, no reasoning, just something to do. 30 seconds into the film, I hit play on the CD and was amazed at how well it worked. Coincidence? Luck? My brain trying too hard to match it up? Probably a bit of all three, but that experience has stuck with me, and Hermann Kopp's score for Der Golem has cozied itself right up to that memory in my mind.

Whether a fan of film or just electronic/experimental music, Hermann Kopp's new score for Der Golem is an engaging work that follows the tense feelings put forth in Wegener's classic silent horror. Over a hundred years since the original, this new work reminds the listener how wonderfully timeless art can be; this score effortlessly accompanies the original. After hearing this, and reminiscing about other German Expressionist films, I would love to see Kopp take on others, his passion for sight and sound really coming through and bringing new life to these classics, just like the Golem in the film.