Biography Elmer Bernstein was born in New York on April the 4, 1922 and he graduated from the highly respected Juillard Institute. Later in his time, he started to write music for radio programs and theatre. He actually got the skill from famous composer Aaron Copland when he was just 12 years old. Nonetheless, Elmer Bernstein grew to become one of the biggest movie composers in the business, especially of the Golden Age of film composition. In 1951, he composed his first feature Saturday's Hero and it all stated to fall in place later on. The Man with the Golden Arm (his first Oscar nomination) went further to The Ten Commandments and those 2 were the ticket to fame and glory. Classics from their time like The Buccaneer, The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird (his first Golden Globe win) went to The Great Escape, Return of the Seven and his only Oscar winning composition Thoroughly Modern Millie. In the '70, Bernstein kept writing the Western music (Big Jake, The Magnificent Seven Ride) as the more comedy efforts like National Lampoon's Animal House (being a great hit), Meatballs and the brilliant Airplane. While also exploring other genres with Heavy Metal (introducing the Ondes Martenot), humor remained with Stripes, the sequel Airplane 2, the excellent Trading Places and the hit movie Ghostbusters. From then on, animation with The Black Cauldron, humor with Three Amigos and Funny Farm, drama with My Left Foot and Da and thrilling with Cape Fear all led to the big career he was building. The drama The Age of Innocence received a nomination and Frankie Starlight proved his further detail in dramatic composition. Hoodlum, The Rainmaker, the funky Wild Wild West, the dramatic The Deep End of the Ocean, the romantic Keeping the Faith and the recent Academy favorite Far from Heaven have all proven to be successful with the fans. Bernstein has won only 1 Oscar and 2 Golden Globes but is considered to be the man who invented jazz, spiced the Westerns and led the Golden Age to new heights. Elmer died peacefully in his sleep on August 18th and left his wife and four children behind. He will be remembered as the Golden Age composer nr. 1.
(on meeting Aaron Copland) May, 2002 I think that at this moment in time the outlook for film music as an art, which indeed it is, is not a good outlook because composers are being asked to crank out things that are going to sound good on a CD rather than what's really good for the film. (overall impression) October 6, 2002 One of the things that happens in the business is that success is a very strange thing in that if you are involved in something very successful the next person wants you to repeat it. (overall impression) October 6, 2002 I loved writing the score for The Magnificent Seven. I loved the whole western thing. I loved all that energy and I'd stored up so many ideas about western music. I loved writing The Age of Innocence because of the process. I loved writing Far From Heaven because it was a time where I was allowed to write music again. (overall impression)
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" The only Oscar for Thoroughly Modern Millie " |
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