The death of Patrick Williams last week left a painful void in American music. Renowned jazz bandleader, distinguished composer for films and television, sought-after arranger for top vocalists, he did it all. A Grammy and Emmy winner, nominated for both the Academy Award and the Pulitzer Prize in music, Williams was among the most accomplished and respected of composers in modern media.
HOLLYWOOD—Alexandre Desplat, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez took top musical honors at the 90th annual Academy Awards ceremony Sunday night at the Dolby Theatre.
Desplat won for his romantic music for The Shape of Water, the Lopezes for their song "Remember Me" from Coco. It was a second Oscar win for all of them: Desplat won three years ago for The Grand Budapest Hotel, while the Lopezes won four years ago for their hit "Let It Go" from Frozen.
Motion Picture Academy joins L.A. Phil in tribute to film music past, present and future by Jon Burlingame
LOS ANGELES—Wednesday night's Oscar concert must qualify as one of the most unusual nights of music ever presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
For fans of classic movie music, 2017 was another banner year, for expanded versions of beloved soundtracks; initial releases of long-desired scores; and even re-recordings of classics. Advances in technology have made ancient recordings sound remarkably fresh, and a handful of unexpected, where-did-they-find-this? albums were cause for joy. Among our favorites of the past 12 months, listed alphabetically:
LOS ANGELES—Veteran film composers Bruce Broughton and Randy Edelman were honored as SCL Ambassadors during the Society of Composers & Lyricists' annual holiday dinner Tuesday night at the Skirball Cultural Center.
LOS ANGELES—An estimated 1,400 watched, listened and shed tears as E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial unspooled while the American Youth Symphony performed John Williams' Oscar-winning music live to picture Sunday night at UCLA's Royce Hall.
Composer Michael Giacchino conducts Lalo Schifrin's original arrangement to the theme from "Mission: Impossible."
GLENDALE, Calif.—"We've got a whole Lalo Schifrin goin' on," said producer Robert Townson, echoing the title of the composer's 1968 album, "and it just doesn't get any cooler than Lalo."
LOS ANGELES—Original music from Fargo, House of Cards and Stranger Things won Emmy Awards over the weekend, as did a song and the music from two major programs dealing with the historical challenges facing African-Americans.
Jeff Russo won his first Emmy in the Composition for a Series category for an episode of Fargo; this was his third nomination for the FX series. Jeff Beal won his fifth prime-time Emmy in the Composition for a Limited Series category for "Chapter 63" of House of Cards; this was his fifth nomination and second win for the Netflix series.
HOLLYWOOD—It isn't every day that legends from two such disparate worlds share the stage. But it happened Friday night at the Hollywood Bowl.
Composer John Williams, halfway through his annual concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, turned to the audience and talked briefly about a short film he scored earlier in the year: Dear Basketball, an animated adaptation of Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant's farewell poem to the sport he loves.
LOS ANGELES—Dear Basketball, the animated short about Los Angeles Laker star Kobe Bryant with music by composer John Williams, makes its concert debut this weekend at the Hollywood Bowl. Williams will conduct it live-to-picture with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
As Williams explained recently: "Two to three years ago, I received a call from Kobe Bryant, asking if I would have lunch with him. I had known him, of course, as one of our country's greatest athletes. But as someone who had never seen a professional basketball game, I thought, 'Well, this is something quite extraordinary.'"
HOLLYWOOD—An estimated 28,000 fans thrilled to the original adventures of Indiana Jones, set to a live performance of the original Raiders of the Lost Ark score, Friday and Saturday nights at the Hollywood Bowl.
LOS ANGELES—Composer Richard Bellis was honored for his two decades of leading the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop during Monday night's recording session for this year's participants at the Newman Scoring Stage on the 20th Century-Fox lot.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—More than half of this year's Emmy nominees in the music categories are first-timers for the Television Academy honors – in part because this marks the first year that music supervisors are eligible.
Fifty years ago, songwriters Bob Harris and Paul Francis Webster knocked out a theme for a Saturday-morning cartoon show. Neither could have predicted how popular it would become, nor how lucrative it would turn out to be for the songwriters.
LOS ANGELES—In October, a major choral work will be performed in Vienna by a composer who left there 78 years ago, the result of a campaign by another Viennese composer who is more than 70 years his junior.
HOLLYWOOD—Nearly 1,000 fans of The Handmaid's Tale got a preview of the season finale Thursday night at the Montalban Theatre, as an orchestra played Adam Taylor's dramatic musical score live to picture.
LONDON—The music of Oscar-winning composer Elmer Bernstein will be celebrated in a pair of concerts this month in England and Ireland. Both will be conducted by the composer's son Peter Bernstein, and both will be hosted by veteran director John Landis.
The RTE Concert Orchestra will perform at Dublin's National Concert Hall on Wednesday, June 14, while the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will perform at London's Royal Albert Hall for the second concert on Sunday, June 18 (coincidentally for Peter, Father's Day).
Jerry Goldsmith's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame revealed. Standing L to R: Lyricist Paul Williams, composer David Newman, Aaron Goldsmith, composer Charles Fox. Kneeling L to R: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Chair of the Board Jeff Zarrinnam, Carol Goldsmith, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Leron Gubler.
HOLLYWOOD—Tuesday, May 9, was declared Jerry Goldsmith Day in Los Angeles, as the legendary composer of such classics as Planet of the Apes, Patton and Chinatown was postumously honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
HOLLYWOOD—The Rifleman, one of TV's most beloved Westerns, finally has a soundtrack album. It only took nearly 60 years to happen.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Ca.—"Hans Zimmer Teaches Film Scoring" – the phrase alone is enough to cause double-takes around the room.
Academy Award- and Emmy-winning Leonard Rosenman (1924-2008) – celebrated composer of East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, Fantastic Voyage and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – also wrote music for other media.
The Film Music Society, the entertainment industry-based preservation group, has recently rescued and restored some of Rosenman's music from four historic television productions and a theme park attraction, and is releasing these archival recordings on a 76-minute CD called Alexander the Great and Other Rare Rosenman.
From its initial publication as a multi-page mimeograph in January 1984, The Cue Sheet has grown to be among the most highly respected sources for articles and essays on the subject of film and television music.
The journal's content ranges from biographical essays and in-memoriam tributes to articles on contemporary issues, opinion pieces and book reviews, featuring the works of such notable journalists and historians as Fred Steiner, James Lipton, John Caps, Tony Thomas, Rudy Behlmer, Clifford McCarty, Jon Burlingame, Steven Smith and Ross Care, among others.
The University of Illinois Press, in conjunction with New York University Steinhardt School's Department of Music & Performing Arts Professions and The Film Music Society, has published Music and the Moving Image, a premiere online scholarly journal dedicated to the relationship between music and the wide spectrum of moving images, from film and television to computer and interactive performance.
Music and the Moving Image will be issued three times annually (spring, summer, fall). Volume 1 (Spring 2008) will receive its inaugural launch on February 29 at http://mmi.press.uiuc.edu/.
Leading an impressive editorial board of educators and music professionals, executive editors conductor/musicologist Gillian B. Anderson and Director of the Film Music program at NYU/Steinhardt Ronald H. Sadoff will consider submissions from both scholars and practitioners. All papers will be accepted for inclusion in the journal based upon a peer-review process. Although the journal will be published in English, international diversity is encouraged. Visit Call for Papers/Submission Guidelines for more information.
Annual individual subscriptions are available for $30 (a special Film Music Society membership rate is $21), and the institutional rate is $60. An order form is available HERE or through the journal web site.
Had David Raksin written nothing but the immortal "Laura," it would have been measure enough of his incomparable talent for melody and harmony.
But the composer of scores for such Hollywood classics as Forever Amber, The Bad and the Beautiful and Separate Tables had also written a treasure trove of songs. He shared his favorites in a collection called The Timeless Melodies of David Raksin.
Originally published by Ekay Music in 1996, this extraordinary 112-page, 9" x 12" collection of sheet music has long been out of print and hard to find.
A number of years ago, Raksin donated a few copies of this songbook to The Film Music Society for fundraising, and we are happy to offer them for purchase while the supply lasts.
Rózsa's music shines on this CD in a way it never has before. Featuring lengthy and authoritative liner notes by Golden Age film expert Rudy Behlmer, this is an album you won't want to miss, skillfully restored and remastered from the last surviving transcription discs. As a bonus track, we've included an excerpt of a rare interview with Rózsa discussing his score with Behlmer in 1974.
The periodic newsletter, previously sent by US mail exclusively to FMS members, is now right here on the News & Events page of this website. Each Friday, this online version of the newsletter provides the latest industry information; membership announcements; upcoming events; newsworthy articles; and an occasional series we call Da Capo, offering historical articles related to film and TV music.
Freelance submissions: Newsworthy information and film/TV music-related articles may be submitted for consideration to editor@filmmusicsociety.org. The FMS is under no obligation to publish and/or otherwise utilize submissions or any portions thereof. The FMS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, supported solely by private donations. No remuneration is available for submissions.