"The Lonely Shepherd", also known as Einsamer Hirte or Der einsame Hirte in German or as El pastor solitario in Spanish, is an instrumental piece by James Last, first released in a recording with the Romanian panflutist Gheorghe Zamfir.
In 1979, it was used as the title theme for the six-part television series Golden Soak (Das Gold der Wüste).
[3] In 2003, Quentin Tarantino used the recording as soundtrack in a scene and in the closing credits of his film Kill Bill: Volume 1.
The title has enjoyed unbroken popularity up to today and is newly recorded by numerous artists.
[5] As of 2024, the performance of the piece by Zamfir and André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra on YouTube has over 190 million views.