On today’s date in 1982, a sci-fi movie titled “Tron” opened in theaters across the country, targeting an audience fascinated by the then still-new craze for computer gaming. In the movie, a programmer–played by Jeff Bridges–is transported from the real world into a fantastic digital universe INSIDE a computer program, where he becomes a kind of freedom fighter for the program’s oppressed and exploited components.

OK, the plot is far-fetched, but nonetheless “Tron” became a cult classic–in part because of its musical score created by Wendy Carlos, famous for her wildly successful “Switched-On Bach” album featuring Bach played on a Moog synthesizer.

Originally the idea was for Carlos to write synthesizer music for just the “computer world” scenes, and for another composer to write a conventional orchestral score for the “real world” scenes.

But Carlos convinced the producers to let her do it all, and so orchestral portions of her score were recorded in London by the London Philharmonic; the choral parts in California by the UCLA Chorus, and the synthesizer portions created in New York City by Carlos herself, with Carlos weaving all three elements into one unified and–for 1982– ground-breaking film score.