Henry Purcell wrote the music used for the opening of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange: the electronic arrangement of “Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary.” Wendy Carlos created the synthesized version heard in the film.
Purcell composed the original funeral march in 1695 for the funeral of Queen Mary II of England. Carlos’s recording transforms the Baroque piece into an ominous electronic fanfare, accompanying the camera’s slow movement away from Alex and his droogs in the Korova Milk Bar.
The music illustrates Kubrick’s practice of combining older classical and ceremonial works with modern technology and violence. Beethoven is especially important later in the film because Alex has a powerful emotional connection to the composer’s music, but Beethoven did not write the opening theme. The distinction between composer and arranger is also useful: Purcell wrote the original work, while Carlos produced the electronic film version.