How the composer created one unique score after another—yet maintained a personal style. Following Alex North’s landmark 1951 score for A Streetcar Named Desire, a handful of composers made their mark by exploring the possibilities of writing traditional film music within the jazz idiom. Throughout the decade, worthy contributions were made by a number of […]
Friday, November 9 Bernstein and Jazz The Man with the Golden Arm (1956/b&w/119 min.) scr: Walter Newman, Lewis Meltzer; dir: Otto Preminger; w/ Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak. Sweet Smell of Success (1957/b&w/96 min.) scr: Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman, dir: Alexander Mackendrick; w/ Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis. Saturday, November 10 Bernstein and Scorsese Clips from other […]
Many people spend a lifetime toiling at the same job. What’s unique about Elmer Bernstein—now celebrating his 50th year as a composer for films—is that few in this very select group manage to survive so long in such an exacting, often frustratingly trendy profession. “Elmer Bernstein is movie music,” says film historian and commentator Leonard Maltin. “He […]
Arthur Hamilton Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t escape from Elmer Bernstein. His music has stirred you, excited you, inspired you, amused you, and kept close company with you for the past fifty years. Kept close with you, your family, and your family’s family—no matter where you live in the world. The composer […]
Welcome to the 5th Anniversary Season of The Henry Mancini Institute, an organization that’s dedicated to answering the question, “What does it mean to be a professional musician in today’s world?” The HMI has experienced a tremendous amount of growth during its short existence and answers this question by providing a unique environment where accomplished […]
Royal Albert Hall – August 14, 2001 Hollywood and the Stars 3:00 Elmer Bernstein Ben Hur Miklos Rozsa Overture 6:00 Parade of the Chariots 5:00 Robin Hood 7:00 Erich Wolfgang Korngold Old England Robin Hood and his Merry Men Gone With the Wind 4:00 Max Steiner Tara’s Theme A President’s Country 10:30 Dimitri Tiomkin Red […]
Turner Classic Movies celebrates Oscar-winning composer Elmer Bernstein with a 31-film festival airing Wednesdays and Fridays throughout May. Bernstein will co-host the festival with TCM’s Robert Osborne, adding his personal insights on the films, his scores and his successful 50-year career scoring 232 major motion pictures and television films as well as working with talented […]
A long time ago before he became concerned with defending the rights of individuals to possess automatic weapons and handguns, Charleton Heston did a rather stylish turn as Moses in Cecil B. Demille’s, “The Ten Commandments.” And from the perspective of a wide-eyed five year old, the scene of Moses removing his shoes and approaching […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE EAMES OFFICE GALLERY & STORE 2665 Main Street Santa Monica CA 310.396.5991 Award winning film composer, Elmer Bernstein, will be making a rare appearance at the Eames Office Gallery and Store in Santa Monica, CA on Sunday, December 3rd between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. Mr. Bernstein will speak of his collaborations […]
Elmer Bernstein has been working in Hollywood for half a century. Critically acclaimed, and graced with thirteen Academy Award nominations, including one win, he has scored such classic films as To Kill A Mockingbird, The Man With The Golden Arm, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Ten Commandments,Ghostbusters, Stripes and over 200 other projects. Beginning in 2001, Elmer will be celebrating […]
The following speech was presented by Elmer Bernstein at the third annual film and TV music conference at the Directors Guild of America in March, 1998. The event was hosted by the Hollywood Reporter and the Society of Composers and Lyricists. [A reporter at the time writes, “During his keynote address, Bernstein focused on the threats […]
Portions previously published in Empire Magazine (U.K.), 1992. “The wonderful thing that film music can always do is [to be] not totally explicit, to get behind and inside the characters so to speak,” says Elmer Bernstein, composer for the Martin Scorsese remake of CAPE FEAR. “Curiously enough, I think that the score of CAPE FEAR […]
It may surprise some readers to know that the Society of Composers & Lyricists is not the first group of musicians and wordsmiths to organize for the collective good of its membership. In fact, the SCL has two major predecessors one of which was actually a union that, for more than a decade, set minimum […]