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One of the Great Composers has Died.

Jimmie | August 19, 2004 | Comments (0)

Elmer Bernstein, composer who was nominated for 14 Oscars in his career has passed away.

I referred to him as one of the great composers, and I believe that is true. His movie soundtrack work stands with anything done by modern classical composers. His works included such unforgettable movies as “The Magnificent Seven” (the finest western theme ever done, I believe), “The Ten Commandments”, and “The Great Escape” (watch a British soccer match anywhere. I bet you hear it.). He won an oscar for “Thoroughly Modern Millie”. He wrote music for such great comedies as “Ghostbusters”, “The Blues Brothers”, and “Animal House”.

Here are a couple great “did you know” things about him. Did you know that he scored the ballet scene from “Oklahoma” and the orchestral parts of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video? I knew both before I read this article, but it’s just kind of cool to know, I think.

I shuold also note (because I didn’t say anything about it at the time) that in the same one-month period we’ve lost two great movie composers: Bernstein and Jerry Goldsmith. Goldsmith was likewise a musical genius who worked mostly with movies and got my attention first through the Star Trek movies. His score for “Total Recall” was excellent work – better than the stuff that John Williams has put out lately.