Bach to the Future: 10 movies that used Bach's music that you probably never knew
Born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Germany, Johannes Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist and violinist who belonged to the Baroque Era. He is one of the most celebrated German musicians of all time. His music continues to echo in contemporary culture. Here are a few films that borrowed from him to capture their stories.
The first recorded movie to feature Bach's compositions was the 1931 classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a horror drama that continues to be a cult classic (PC: Toronto Film Society)
FANTASY FILES: In 1940, Disney released the now-classic film Fantasia which featured original music by Bach. The film was a comeback for the iconic character, Mickey Mouse (PC: Disney Plus)
BOOK KEEPER: When Director John Cromwell adapted Since You Went Away from the 1943 novel by David O Selnick, he added Bach's tunes into the soundtrack (PC: The Hollywood Revue)
SONG STATION: The 1951 biographical picture, The Great Caruso, made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Mario Lanza as Enrico Caruso features Bach (Classic FM)
SEA SIDES: Bach's music accompanies 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a film released in 1954 after the renowned book of the same name (PC: Moviesanywhere.com)
WRESTLING OUT: The 1961 film La Lutte or The Wrestler features Bach's compositions based on professional wrestling in Montreal, Canada (PC: IMDB)
PUZO PRIZE: One of Hollywood's most celebrated classics based on Mario Puzo's Italian mafia novel, The Godfather, used Bach's music when Francis Ford Coppola directed the film (PC: Britannica)
NO SILENCE : Jodie Foster's legendary performance in 1991's dark mystery, The Silence of the Lambs based on Hannibal Lecter plays out over Bach's renditions (PC: Independent)
SEVEN UP: David Fincher's 1995 mystery drama, Se7en, which had Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt in iconic detective roles also featured music by Johannes Sebastian Bach (PC: Medium)
WING MAN: The 21st episode of season 2 of The West Wing was released in 2001. It also featured Bach's music (PC: Criticallytouched.wordpress.com)