Search the Community

Since we have threads for many of the new generation composers I thought why not start one for an old school film composer. After a quick search I could not find a thread dedicated to Elmer Bernstein so here is one. Discussion on his music, the man and his life and possible new releases of his music is the purpose of this thread even though it is not labeled Official. Appreciation and insights, analysis and memories are more than welcome. And if by a chance I missed a possible official thread, would some of the moderators move this one in it. Elmer Bernstein was a long time just a name at the periphery of my film music hobby among many other composers. But over the years after reading and coming across high praise for his work and even listening to some music on compilations came across one score that turned me into a Bernstein fan. This score was To Kill a Mockingbird which has remained a firm favourite ever since. This music exhibited timeless lyricism and deep understanding of the wonderful film based on an equally wonderful novel and showed film composer's subtle mastery at its best. After this I began to explore Bernstein's catalogue a bit more widely and found time and time again classic scores for classic films of the yesteryear that were brazenly dramatic and inventively melodic. I had been only familiar with the comedy scores of the 1970's and 1980's period of his career and even though they were iconic and famous, and in all honesty they had never been my favourites. So it was a joy to find his different sides as it were beyond comedy, which he often scored very straight faced which lended them that clever coat of humor. And digging deeper I found brilliant and touching scores like Birdman of Alcatraz and Far from Heaven, jazzy noirish scores of 1960's like the Sweet Smell of Success and Man with the Golden Arm and his bigger spectacles like Ten Commandments and the trend setting Western score of The Magnificent Seven. And so my exploration still continues and I am always happy to find a new Bernstein score, full of his indelible sound and style. He is a composer that should be remembered among the greats of his generation even though the later phases of his career did not make him widely famous to cinema goers in the late 90's. He was also a strong advocate of film music in general and did a lot of work for the prestige and recognition of the art form, not only by being outspoken but by releasing recordings and being part of series of re-recordings to make classic film music available for a wider audience to listen to and appreciate.

http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.7514/.f http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/17626/ http://www.moviemusic.com/soundtrack/M08363/blackcauldron/

THE DAVID SPEAR COLLECTION - VOLUME 1: THE COURAGE TO CARE, LINCOLN AND THE WAR WITHIN ANDTHE TRIUMPH OF MEMORY Click Here to go to the product page https://tinyurl.com/y8pkh5g2 . THE DAVID SPEAR COLLECTION - VOLUME 1: THE COURAGE TO CARE, LINCOLN AND THE WAR WITHIN ANDTHE TRIUMPH OF MEMORY. is presented as a limited edition of 500 units. LISTEN TO A SOUND CLIPS FROM "THE DAVID SPEAR COLLECTION - VOLUME 1” THE COURAGE TO CARE https://tinyurl.com/y8ep6ngy LINCOLN AND THE WAR WITHIN https://tinyurl.com/y78u4bu3 THE TRIUMPH OF MEMORY https://tinyurl.com/y9vbrgr4 CD includes Digital Download-24 Bit Wav, MP3, Digital PDF Ships the week of May 5 CD includes Digital Download-24 Bit Wav, MP3, Digital PDF Dragon’s Domain Records, to be distributed through buysoundtrax.com, presents THE DAVID SPEAR COLLECTION, VOLUME 1 , featuring music composed and orchestrated by David Spear for three projects from his filmography. This album collects music from two historical documentaries, one historical docudrama, and an assortment of intimate duet performances intended to offer a musical portrait of composer David Spear THE COURAGE TO CARE is a 30-minute Holocaust documentary made in 1985; the film was nominated for an Oscar for best documentary short subject. The film was directed and produced Robert H. Gardner, with Richard Kaplan serving as an associate producer in the field shooting the testimonies; it was he who brought Spear into the production as composer, having known him from previous projects. The film, through interviews and location filming, recounts how many Jews were able to survive because they were rescued by non-Jewish people who risked their own lives to put them in their basements or in their closets or hide them from the Gestapo or the Nazis. Spear wrote the score for a quartet (viola, cello, clarinet, and piano), with Spear playing the piano himself. LINCOLN AND THE WAR WITHIN was a PBS Civil War dramatization focusing on the first few weeks of Lincoln’s presidency, which were crucial for the direction the country would take. Lincoln had to bridge the gap between the North and South while navigating the conflict that he had with William H. Seward, whom he had appointed his Secretary of State despite their longtime rivalry. Spear scored the film to be performed by a nonet—nine musicians, playing flute, oboe, clarinet, guitar, piano, and a string quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello). THE TRIUMPH OF MEMORY was a follow-up to THE COURAGE TO CARE, reuniting Spear with director Robert H. Gardner and associate producer Richard Kaplan. Spear used a similar scoring approach but replaced the viola with a violin for his quartet on this project. In addition, he added a bit of percussion into the mix to give the music a sense of tension, like a ticking clock, as the stories are told and difficult memories flow forth. The main approach to scoring the montages between interviews was similar to that of the previous film, but Spear enhanced his palette to accommodate a slightly different tone, and to convey a little more of a folkish Eastern European sound and melody. The album concludes with a quintet of Spear’s original pieces performed by the composer on the piano accompanied by Eugene Friesen on cello. David Spear began his career orchestrating many film scores for Elmer Bernstein including AIRPLANE, ANIMAL HOUSE, HEAVY METAL and GHOSTBUSTERS. After his Broadway debut as Music Director of MERLIN, THE MAGICAL MUSICAL, Spear wrote scores for three Academy Award nominated films: RAINBOW WAR, BALLET ROBOTIQUE, and THE COURAGE TO CARE. He composed the music for the Emmy Award winning National Geographic documentary, SURVIVING EVEREST. One of his first major scores was for the 1981 vampire thriller FEAR NO EVIL, composed in collaboration with the film’s writer/director Frank LaLoggia. He led the Indianapolis Symphony for the 2008 premiere of THE LANGSTON HUGHES PROJECT featuring Ice-T and the Ron McCurdy Quartet. A dedicated educator, Spear served as faculty at Berklee College of Music (1991-1995), USC Thornton School of Music (1995-2006), NYU (2009-2013), and at Portland State as 2017 Artist-in-Residence. His work in academia and industry thrives on decades of creative collaboration with many notable artists, directors and scholars. Dragon’s Domain Records presents THE DAVID SPEAR COLLECTION, VOLUME 1, featuring music composed by David Spear for THE COURAGE TO CARE, LINCOLN AND THE WAR WITHIN and THE TRIUMPH OF MEMORY for the very first time on compact disc. The music has been mastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland and the liner notes have been written by noted author Randall Larson, with the participation of the composer. THE DAVID SPEAR COLLECTION, VOLUME 1 is a limited edition release of 500 units. THE DAVID SPEAR COLLECTION, VOLUME 1 is expected to begin shipping the week of May 4th, 2020 and can be ordered at www.buysoundtrax.com . Composer David Spear will sign the first 100 copies of THE DAVID SPEAR COLLECTION, VOLUME 1 sold through the website. THE COURAGE TO CARE (1985) (Original Score) 01. Elle Wiesel Speaks (1:39) 02. The Marais of Paris (1:23) 03. Autumn Light Over Poland (3:05) 04. Elegance with Aching Clarinet (1:28) 05. Finale & End Credits (2:11) LINCOLN AND THE WAR WITHIN (1992) (Original Score) 06. Parlor Politics (4:41) 07. Godspeed, Mr. President (5:19) 08. Mystic Chords of Memory (2:38) 09. The Nature of Better Angels (3:49) THE TRIUMPH OF MEMORY(1989) (Original Score) 10. Eastern European Melancholy (2:06) 11. Gypsy Nocturne (2:14) 12. Goethe's Tree (1:18) 13. Final Prayer (3:31) FIVE SONGS FOR CELLO AND PIANO (1991) 14. The Triumph of Memory (3:30) 15. Tell Me a Story (4:58) 16. Voyage d’Amour (3:14) 17. Cherry Blossom Spring (3:41) 18. Paris, 3 A.M. (3:52) Total Time: 55:05

Moochin About Records has been releasing a series of jazz collections showcasing jazz music used in films, not compilations of jazz pieces used in movies, but scores specifically composed by jazz musicians and film composers alike for movies and TV series. Jazz On Film...Crime Jazz features scores from various TV shows from 1950s and 60s in the style that has become called "crime jazz" which was the mode of the day to express the dark, gritty and suspenseful world of these detective shows and thrillers. What makes this 8 CD compilation especially interesting to John Williams fans is that it features music from Checkmate (the original LP programme already previously released by FSM) and M-Squad (this album has 3 selections composed by Williams) but there are other quite familiar composers among the people featured here like Henry Mancini, George Dunning and Elmer Bernstein. Here are the scores presented on this compilation. 77 Sunset Strip Warren Barker Hawaiian Eye Warren Barker M~Squad Stanley Wilson Staccato Elmer Bernstein Mikey Spillanes Mike Hammer Stan Purdy Orchestra Music From Mike Hammer Skip Martin Checkmate Johnny Williams Shotgun Slade Stanley Wilson Orchestra Peter Gunn Henry Mancini Mr Lucky & Mr Lucky Goes Latin Henry Mancini The Naked City George Dunning The Untouchables Nelson Riddle Richard Diamond Pete Rugolo Bourbon St Beat Don Ralke

In Memory of Harper Lee's passing here is a piano suite from Elmer Bernstein's score for TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD performed by Dan Redfeld recorded for BSX RECORDS. Harper Lee 1926-2016 Rest In Peacehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX-KXHdbOoA

http://www.lalalandrecords.com/TrueGrit.html http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/25916/ http://www.moviemusic.com/soundtrack/M09060/true-grit/ http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.8309/.f

Eight years already... Here's a score that would sound most likely at home in a Captain America film:

Roger Feigelson of Intrada says: Source: http://www.intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=59691#p59691 Discuss.