View Full Version : Film Composer Elmer Bernstein dies
K6BBC
08-22-2004, 04:55 PM
Last month I posted news of the death of legendary film composer Jerry Goldsmith. This week, film composer Elmer Bernstein died at age 82. Bernstein is best know for his rousing theme to the MAGNIFCANT SEVEN – a piece immortalized by a cigarette add. His career began in the early fifties with perhaps his big break coming with his score for THE TEN COMMANDEMENTS. Over the past thirty years, three names have dominated film music; John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, and Elmer Bernstein. Within two fortnights, two of the three have been silenced forever.
K6BBC
9V1VV
08-23-2004, 12:44 AM
Quote[/b] ]Within two fortnights, two of the three have been silenced forever.
As with all first rate composers, they live on through their music, and are not silent until the music is forgotten.
N7AAO
08-23-2004, 12:47 AM
Just like an author is remembered through their books... Tolkien lives (and so does Frodo) as long as the Lord of the Rings is in print.
Quote[/b] ]If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are rotten,
either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing.
Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)
K6BBC
08-23-2004, 03:19 AM
Thank you for your thoughtful comments.
K6BBC
WA5KRP
08-23-2004, 05:43 AM
Legendary. Words are futile.
†
WA5KRP
Texas
Williams is getting up there, too, #I believe he is now 72 years old! # I didn't think he was that far along!
http://www.johnwilliamscomposer.com/
Of course, Williams has also won world-wide fame and renown for his work with the Boston Pops Orchestra ( which introduced many of his works ) , not to mention that he is also a very accomplished pianist, as well!
73 from Jim
W3MIV
08-23-2004, 11:25 PM
Quote[/b] (k6bbc @ Aug. 22 2004,12:55)]Within two fortnights, two of the three have been silenced forever. #
K6BBC
I quibble with this line. No musician of this talent is "silenced" for once or for all time. We shall have them always through their opera (no, the other).
Goldsmith and Bernstein were greats, but no one yet has been born who could hold the candle to Bernard Herrmann, now gone for those thirty years. Cape Fear, Day the Earth Stood Still, a whole raft of Hitchcock thrillers, even the TV Rawhide, if memory serves.
Though dead, he yet lives as will Jerry and Elmer.
WA5KRP
08-23-2004, 11:32 PM
Henry Mancini's work isn't chopped liver, ya' know.
WA5KRP
Texas
W3MIV
08-23-2004, 11:40 PM
Quote[/b] (wa5krp @ Aug. 23 2004,19:32)]Henry Mancini's work isn't chopped liver, ya' know.
WA5KRP
Texas
No, that was Irving Berlin.
K6BBC
08-24-2004, 06:13 AM
Quote[/b] (W3MIV @ Aug. 23 2004,16:25)]Quote[/b] (k6bbc @ Aug. 22 2004,12:55)]Within two fortnights, two of the three have been silenced forever. #
K6BBC
I quibble with this line. No musician of this talent is "silenced" for once or for all time. We shall have them always through their opera (no, the other).
Goldsmith and Bernstein were greats, but no one yet has been born who could hold the candle to Bernard Herrmann, now gone for those thirty years. Cape Fear, Day the Earth Stood Still, a whole raft of Hitchcock thrillers, even the TV Rawhide, if memory serves.
Though dead, he yet lives as will Jerry and Elmer.
I agree. What I was trying to say, I guess, is there will be no new music from these great artist.
And, I agree, Herrmann was the greatest film composer. It goes without saying that Psycho, Vertigo, Citizen Kane, North By Northwest, Taxi Driver, are all classics. If you want to hear a real treat, get a copy of the Twilight Zone episode “Walking Distance.” The scoring is perhaps the best ever for a 30 min television play. Also, I believe Herrmann wrote the famous theme for the show.
K6BBC
Hey, lets not forget some of the greatest film music ever composed:
Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky
Dmitri Shostakovich - Battleship Potemkin
HUH? , you say ! Go to the library !
73 from Jim AG3Y http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
K6BBC
08-25-2004, 02:44 AM
Quote[/b] (AG3Y @ Aug. 24 2004,11:27)]Hey, lets not forget some of the greatest film music ever composed:
Prokofiev - Alexander Nevsky
Dmitri Shostakovich - Battleship Potemkin #
HUH? , you say ! # Go to the library ! #
73 from Jim AG3Y http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
Food for thought Jim.
FYI, Shostakovich did not write a score for Potemkin. His Tenth and Eleventh symphonies were “tracked” to the silent movie in 1976.
K6BBC
Funny thing, though, Shostakovich LOVED American movies. #If you listen to his 2nd Piano Concerto, there is a section in there that sounds, for all intents and purposes, just like a "belly up to the bar" type of honky-tonk piano ! #Lotsa fun!
Here is a great web page !
http://www.classicalarchives.com/movies/movie3.html#S
BTW, I'm honored to be able to have this dialog with you !
73 , #Jim
9V1VV
08-27-2004, 02:33 AM
Jim - you must be one of the few who can sit through an entire Shosty symphony. I find them relentlessly #bleak, except for the evergreen 5th... one Brit composer of note who was commissioned to write several film scores was Ralph Vaughan Williams. A favourite is #"Scott of the Antarctica". Speaking of film music, don't forget #the Beatles "Hard Day's Night" #
Toodle pip http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Man, talk about BLEAK http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif # "Scott of the Antarctic" #ends with a "Wind Machine" mimmicking a windswept snowfield during a blizzard! # Yes, I heard the symphonic work a long time before I ever had a chance to see the film, itself! #
BTW, how do you Brits REALLY pronounce his name "Ralph" or "Raffe" ? # Over on this side of the pond, the announcers almost invarably call him "Raffe" , but I have heard that it isn't necessarily the pronounciation of choice! # #Just curious!
73 from Jim AG3Y
9V1VV
08-27-2004, 03:09 AM
Hi Jim, yes Ralph V-W could also be depressing. His 6th was influenced by the hellish trench warfare of WW1. But most of the other #symphonies are fairly melodic.
Yep, Ralph is pronounce Rafe - it's the same with that poncy Brit actor Ralph Feinnes (Rafe Fines). I know some people with the Christian name Ralph who pronounce it Ralf, no problem. I think it's a throw back to the Brit class warfare. Those who went to posh private schools adopt the affected, snobbish "Rafe" to distinguish themselves from the unwashed lower classes.
Toodle-pip old chap.
Yes, I do love Shostokovich's music, although it took years of listening to warm up to his slower movements! Now I find them the richer listening experience and his more up-tempo things to be sort of "fluffy".
I'm surprised that you haven't mentioned Benjamin Britten
It's amazing how his life was so intetwined with some of the other greats, whos names have been mentioned here.
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/1523/britten.htm
Man, I LOVE it when a couple of people from so far apart, can share their love for the same things! Praise Be! for intelligence, ham radio, and qrz.com ! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
73 and talk to you later, OM ! Jim AG3Y
K6BBC
08-29-2004, 05:36 AM
Quote[/b] (AG3Y @ Aug. 26 2004,15:03)]BTW, I'm honored to be able to have this dialog with you !
Honored to dialogue with me? Why thanks! I do enjoy a good discussion of film music. Did you know Charlie Chaplin’s only Oscar (other than his two special Academy Awards) was for his score to Limelight (eligible in 1973)?
Also, I believe Shostakovich’s music was used nicely in the original Rollerball.
K6BBC
9V1VV
08-29-2004, 11:47 AM
"Yes, I do love Shostokovich's music,"
Hi again Jim . Well the only Shosty I really love is probably the Chamber Symphony, which is "approachable", coupled with the song cycle taken from Jewish folk poetry. I think I need to persevere more with his major works. I'm more of a Francois Couperin/Bach/Rameau/Purcell/Byrd/Handel nut. The arts in Singapore are thriving and there are regular performances by visiting artists and ensembles. Even the local symphony orchestra has come on in leaps and bounds in the past few years. They did a wonderful Mahler 9 recently, which, as you know, is not an easy work to perform convincingly....Yep, ham radio is great. This beats the code/no code bitterness and the political squabbles. Best of luck.
Toodle-pip/73 de John
I agree that the music to "Limelight" is about as beautifully melancholy as you could ever hope for. The following web site has the lyrics, and a midi file for you to listen to , in case your memory needs a job. However, it is a bit strange, because it takes a song that I'm sure is written in 4/4 time and turns it into a waltz!
http://www.clown-ministry.com/Article....ht.html (http://www.clown-ministry.com/Articles/Poetry/chaplin-theme-limelight.html)
Well, that is interesting to listen to, I am sure you will agree.
However, one of the most satisfying pieces he ever did ( Chaplin composed a lot of the music for his "silent" films, including "Modern Times" ) is the famous "Smile" ( though your heart is breaking ) which was the main theme for "Modern Times". I still cannot hear that music without getting a big lump in my throat. ( Yes, I know, I am just a big softy ! )
Interestingly, "Modern Times" is the first time we hear Charlie's "singing", in a strange solo number that he performs in front of the restaurant crowd as a "singing waiter". Even though every word is loud and clear, there is not a syllable that can be understood, because the language is purely Charlie's own! ( although some of it does sound a bit French! ) http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif
Oh, BTW, John, I would LOVE to hear that Mahler 9th. I've got a pretty good stereo system, but there is NOTHING that can beat listening to a gigantic production, live and in person!
Well, gotta run, some work awaits me. We will all get together again, soon.
In the meantime 73 to both of you gentlemen ( and anyone else listening in! )
Jim AG3Y