Elmer Bernstein was a composer best known for his many soundtracks displayed in movies. Bernstein began his career at a young age and continued composing for five decades. He is praised for his many contributions to the film industry with his “golden touch”. His impact on music is still felt today, and he will always be mourned by friends, family, and especially moviemakers. It is common for artists to be pigeonholed as a composer for just one category, but Elmer refused to accept just one label and decided to wear them all. Bernstein composed for westerns, epics, comedies, and intimate dramas. Every moment in Elmer’s life molded him into a remembered well rounded composer and aspects such as his family, education, and work sent Elmer to …show more content…
He soon transitioned to Westerns and dramas that set his reputation as a master of “musical Americana” in stone. He worked around the clock on scores for movies such as “Sweet Smell of Success” (1957), “The Magnificent Seven” (1960), “Walk on the Wild Side” (1962), “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962), “The Great Escape” (1963), “Airplane!” (1980), “Stripes” (1981), and “Ghostbusters” (1984). Apart from playing the piano and composing scores, Bernstein was an active leader in show business and took on roles such as vice president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, president of the Young Musicians Foundation, president of The Film Music Society, and president of the now-inoperative Composers and Lyricists Guild of America during the 1970s. He touched the lives of composers and filmmakers through his works and his active participation with …show more content…
Elmer won one Academy Award and was nominated for 14, one Emmy Award and was nominated for two, two Golden Globe Awards and was nominated for three, one Downbeat Award, two Western Heritage Awards, and was nominated for five Grammy Awards and two Tony Awards. He composed over 200 film scores for 51 different movies. His vigorous work earned him the title of “a Composer of Scores Capable of Outshining their films” by The New York Times. He is known for his versatile nature and love of diversity. He told Time’s Barbara Isenberg, “I rarely do anything at the same time each day, simply because anything you do routinely cannot possibly be fresh. I think a life with change in it keeps you young.” Bernstein was wise, but had a young heart filled with energy and optimism that is missed dearly by filmmakers and enthusiasts across not only America, but the
Recognized as one of the greatest all time jazz figures Duke Ellington, whose career reached over a span of fifty years was mostly known for composing thousands of influential songs. As well as constituting into jazz an ensemble of western sounds which was referred to as “American Music”. This iconic figure has left a mark in the world of jazz for centuries to come.
“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything” - Plato. This means that you can always do what you want to do like fly for instants. You can sit and imagine flying but some other people get up and actually fly. In this essay I am going to explain Eugene Ely’s childhood, the beginning of his career, his significant accomplishments, and the impact he put on the world.
this paper I will discuss Gershwin’s life as a child and his upbringing and how his music
After listening to all four movements of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor, I have suddenly been awakened to the tremendous influence that the Classical Form of music has had on modern day works, especially in the area of the film industry which it is used to create drama, tension, and joy. History owes a debt of gratitude to composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven, who build upon the legacy of pioneers such as Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to create his own unique blend of symphonic compositions which will be revered throughout generations because of their continued appeal to the
In Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront, the musical score had a huge impact on the success of the film. The composer of the film, Leonard Bernstein, was known more in the world, rather than in the film industry, yet he offered his own unique twist that introduced new techniques in into the scene of musical scores. Bernstein sought to incorporate various techniques into the musical score that would define his signature style, American nationalism, while supporting the major themes of the film as well.
Because of Reich’s extraordinary musical compositions, he has won multiple awards and prizes. Reich won the Pulitzer...
When Herrmann arrived in Hollywood in 1941, he pushed away the traditional “Hollywood sound,” that was being produced by his fellow composers, and began creating an individual composing style that was unique, simple, effective, and would set the stage for future generations of film composers.
In conclusion, Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was of the most talented jazz composers and pianists of the 20th century and did amazing work and composed some of the most famous compositions of jazz. He has gave so many jazz composers motivation to do what they love and think outside the box, he was a genius. His compositions will live through the decades inspiring musicians and composers, his talent will live forever.
Impact of Music of the Harlem Renaissance Upon the Artists of Today. Musicians during the Harlem Renaissance created a style and movement that simply took Americans by storm. Musicians such as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong have inspired others all over the country. The Renaissance itself was not only an observation of life for African Americans, but it also showed Americans that they have a place in society.
Aaron Copland and George Gershwin held multiple similarities throughout their pre-composing lives. The two were born around the same time, Gershwin being born September 26th of 1898 and Copland November 14th of 1900 both in Brooklyn New York. Both of the composers came from Russian Jewish immigrant families, and both developed into musical prodigies through piano teachers from the neighborhood which they both rapidly outgrew. It wasn’t until both men began their musical careers that stark differences arose between the two, mainly through their musical education and how immersion in American society versus European society affected their styles. Both artists are still considered to be the most widely celebrated and most successful modern American
George Gershwin is one of the most celebrated composers of modern times. He is Famous for bridging the gap between Jazz and Classical music, and developing a new kind of popular music that held a genuine, American voice. With such pieces as his Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F he has become the most widely played American composer of all time. Although he boats having one of the most recognizable names in modern music, many people do not truly know the story behind it all.
Director Nicholas Ray was lucky to have a talented composer create an original score for Rebel Without A Cause. Leonard Rosenman was born in 1924 and studied music in New York and Europe. His work as a film composer and arranger is very traditional, and has been regarded by some music critics as "insignificant." However, Rosenman received Academy Awards and Oscar nominations for his work. Along with film scores, Rosenman wrote theme music and scores for numerous television shows. The score in Rebel Without A Cause is much like another film starring James Dean, East of Eden.
But, all that said, it's the versatility that still impresses: you couldn't swap a song from the exuberantly explosive pit-band score of Anyone Can Whistle (1964) with one of the Orientally influenced musical scenes in Pacific Overtures (1976); you couldn't mistake the neurotic pop score of Company (1970) for the elegantly ever-waltzing A Little Night Music (1973). Sondheim hit his stride in the Seventies, forming a unique band. partnership with Hal Prince: a composer-lyricist and a producer-director working together to re-invent the musical. Some were plotless (Company), some characterless (Pacific Overtures), and one went backwards (Merrily We Roll Along). But, as his onetime choreographer Michael Bennett put it, before you can break the rules, you have to know what they are - and Sondheim knows America's cultural heritage better than anybody.
Busby Berkley was a film director and choreographer who built a reputation as dance director of numerous Broadway shows and early musical films before directing the Warner Brothers' backstage saga Forty-Second Street (1933). Berkley perfected the still new technique of synchronizing the filmed image to a pre-recorded soundtrack. As a result, microphones were not needed during musical sequences, making fluid camera motion and intricate editing possible. Berkley set cameras on custom built booms and overhead views of geometrically arran... ... middle of paper ... ...
Neher, Erick. "Movie Music At The Philharmonic." Hudson Review 64.4 (2012): 668-674. Academic Search Complete. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.