05 May 2007 :: Music Composer Trivia

  - Bernard Herrmann's first film score was for Orson Welles' legendary Citizen Kane in 1941. His last film score was for Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). The film is posthumously dedicated to him.
  - The four-note brass motive in Bernard Herrmann's score for the original 1962 Cape Fear was re-used by composer Elmer Bernstein in his score for the 1991 remake by Martin Scorsese. It is also parodied in an episode of The Simpsons.
  - Bernard Herrmann's television themes include The Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke and Rawhide.
  - The James Bond Theme has been used as part of the actual opening credit sequence only twice, as part of the medley that opens Dr. No and then again in the opening credits of From Russia With Love. It has been used as the closing music for a number of the films, most recently in Casino Royale.
  - Lalo Schifrin's jazz-tinted theme music for the Mission: Impossible television series was originally composed in 5/4 time, giving it an edgy, tense beat. For the 1996 movie, Danny Elfman reset the theme in 4/4 time so that it would be easier to listen to by consumers of popular culture. (The original will be performed at the concert.)
  - Nino Rota (La Strada suite) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score for his work on The Godfather. However, when the Academy discovered that some of the music for that film was recycled from an earlier movie he had scored, they declared it ineligible and withdrew the nomination. Two years later, Rota was nominated in the same category for his work on The Godfather Part II, and this time he won the Oscar, sharing the award with Carmine Coppola - the father of director Francis Ford Coppola.
  - Nino Rota wrote the music for all of Federico Fellini's movies over the course of a 25 year partnership.
  - John Williams (Star Wars) has received 45 Academy Award nominations making him the Academy's most nominated living person. He has been awarded five Oscars, seven BAFTAs, 20 Grammys, four Golden Globes, four Emmys and numerous gold and platinum records.
  - German-born composer Hans Zimmer (Gladiator Suite) first enjoyed success as a member of The Buggles. The group's single Video Killed the Radio Star was not only a worldwide hit but was also the first music video to be aired on MTV.
  - Danny Elfman (Spider-Man Suite) was a founding member and frontman of the band Oingo Boingo from 1972-1995.
  - Two of Danny Elfman's most popular television themes are The Simpsonsand Desperate Housewives, the latter for which he received an Emmy Award.

Matt G