René Giessen is a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

.

The harmonica player

Giessen is widely known for playing the harmonica

Harmonica

The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

 in various cover-versions of the title melody of famous German Winnetou

Winnetou

Winnetou is a fictional Native American hero of several novels written by Karl May in German, including the sequels Winnetou I through Winnetou IV....

-movies from the 1960s starring Pierre Brice

Pierre Brice

Pierre Brice is a French actor, mainly known for his role as fictional Apache-chief Winnetou in German Karl May films.- Life and films :...

 and Lex Barker

Lex Barker

Lex Barker was an American actor best known for playing Tarzan of the Apes and leading characters from Karl May's novels.-Early life:...

. This melody was composed by German composer Martin Böttcher

Martin Böttcher

Martin Böttcher is a German composer, arranger and conductor.-The beginning:Böttcher began taking piano lessons at an early age. But his first passion was flying, and he wanted to become a test pilot...

 and originally was played by the late Johnny Müller. At the time the original themes from the Karl May movies

Karl May movies

Karl May films are films based on stories and characters by German author Karl May . The characters Old Shatterhand, Winnetou, and Kara Ben Nemsi are very famous in Central Europe....

 were published they held top positions in the German charts and can be considered a landmark in German film music history. The success of these movies originated a whole new genre later known as the "Spaghetti Westerns" where once again the harmonica plays a dominant role (there is even a character by the name of Harmonica in Sergio Leone

Sergio Leone

Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...

's movie Once Upon a Time in the West

Once Upon a Time in the West

Once Upon a Time in the West is a 1968 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone for Paramount Pictures. It stars Henry Fonda cast against type as the villain, Charles Bronson as his nemesis, Jason Robards as a bandit, and Claudia Cardinale as a newly widowed homesteader with a...

) in the music of Ennio Morricone

Ennio Morricone

Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...

, played on the harmonica by Franco De Gemini.

External pages

• Rene Giessen Homepage