RIP Elmer Bernstein

Elmer Bernstein died today at age 82 on the day I turned 22, and it made me sad, because I know him as the composer for my favorite film, "Ghostbusters".

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000930/

I love the way the "Ghostbusters" score mixes a touch of spooky stuff into the fun music and a bit of lighthearted goofery into the scary stuff. I love the sweet and amazing theme for Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett, and I thrill in awe at the sweep for the ghosts' music, my two favorite statements being at the very beginning, and at the reveal of the smashed terror dog statues.

And I can hum for you, note for note -- despite not owning the (never officially released) score -- the music taking us from the Columbia Pictures through the completely dialogueless opening, bringing us into Ray Parker Jr.'s unforgettable theme.

And yes, the theme song will forever overshadow any other music produced for Ghostbusters, and the score shall remain an unsung hero. Such is the life of the composer.

Randy Edelman took over scoring duties for the sequel, for whatever reason, and while I found his score technically 'better' than Bernstein's, I didn't feel Edelman understood the tone of the scenes or the movie the way Bernstein did. Edelman's work sounded like it could go in any movie of the appropriate genre. Bernstein's score just screamed "Ghostbusters" almost as loudly as the theme song did.

Mr. Bernstein had a career spanning more than 200 productions (most famously "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Ten Commandments"), 11 Oscar nominations (with one win for "Thoroughly Modern Millie") and countless other accolades.

For me, he will always be, first and foremost, the man who scored "Ghostbusters", but that's enough to ensure that his work will live for me forever.



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

More sad news this summer.

 

Stop dying, music people.

 

Two in less than a month?!?!

My favorite scores of his are from the Great Escape and To Kill A Mockingbird. Absolutely wonderful. I also thought his theme from Heavy Metal was good too.

 

Actually that's three in less than a month:

David Raksin, the legendary composer of the classic scores for Laura and The Bad and the Beautiful died of heart failure on Monday 9th August 2004. He was 92 and had been in failing health for the past several weeks.

Raksin, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 4th August 1912, studied under Arnold Schoenberg and was one of the great Golden Age composers who began his movie career in 1935, when he went to Hollywood to assist Charlie Chaplin with the music for Modern Times. Together with colleagues such as Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Alfred Newman and Franz Waxman, Raksin played a substantial role in the creation of the Hollywood sound and approach to film scoring. He subsequently scored over 100 films, working with such esteemed directors as Otto Preminger (including Laura and Forever Amber), John Sturges (including The Magnificent Yankee and It's a Big Country), Vincente Minnelli (The Bad and the Beautiful and Two Weeks in Another Town, Michael Curtiz (Marked Woman), George Cukor (Pat and Mike), Frank Capra (Prelude to War) and William Wyler (Carrie). Raksin was Academy Award nominated for his scores for Forever Amber and Separate Tables.

A handful of Raksin's scores have been released on CD, including Laura, The Bad and the Beautiful and Forever Amber.

David Raksin is survived by a son, a daughter and three grandchildren.

 

R.I.P Elmer

 

I heard this on the radio today. The headline was "Top Film Score Composer dies" and I had to wait 15 minutes before finding out who it was. I must admit to being relieved it wasn't JW, but then I started to recall all of Elmer's scores (Ghostbusters, The Western Stuff, and my personal favourite Airplane).

He also did Wild Wild West - the score being the film's only redeeming feature.

Tis another sad day

 

Terrible news again... I could barely believe it when I heard. This makes 5 in the past year. Michael Kamen, Michael Small, Jerry Goldsmith, David Raksin and now Elmer Bernstein.

 

I know this will sound incredibly selfish, but:

*prays John Williams lives at least until Episode III is complete*

 

IMDB's daily poll today is "which Elmer Bernstein score was your favorite"... Ghostbusters is in the lead by far.



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

Mastadge, I think we'd all be lying if we said that thought hadn't crossed our minds

 

I wonder if our esteemed Music Mod would be interested in a similar poll, Adam.

 

So now I'm steamed, eh?


I hereby grant Adam the authority to create such a poll in this forum.

 

I know this will sound incredibly selfish, but:

*prays John Williams lives at least until Episode III is complete*

I make that prayer whenever I think about the score to ROTS.


Edit: I think a poll is a great idea. The Magnificent Seven, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Great Escape, The Ten Commandments, The Man With The Golden Arm, Ghostbusters, My Left Foot, Heavy Metal, The Grifters, and The Age Of Innocence are all worthy of being included in it.

But then there's The Rambling Rose, Hollywood And The Stars, the National Geographic Theme, and Airplane!

 

Last night I had a dream in which I read news about John William's death? Really.