Elmer Bernstein

[PaulR]

I heard on the radio this morning Elmer Bernstein died last night. At first, my reaction was, that's a shame. He was 82.

Then I thought, no I don't feel sad at all actually. Why not?

When I was 9 or 10 years old, at our local cinema in a small sea-side town, the film The Magnificent Seven showed up one day. There was not the sort of hype you get now with the release of a film in those days. Indeed, as history tells us, The Magnificent Seven didn't do that well in America on release, but after doing the rounds in European countries, returned to America and became a triumph.

A friend of mine and I, went to the cinema almost every afternoon for about 10 times to watch The Magnificent Seven. Luckily, although we didn't understand these things at the time, the cinema had the full size screen and a great sound system.

We watched this film over and over. I didn't have any musical study behind me then and it was years later that I realised that we went to see this film over and over, not just because cowboys were shooting bandits, but because of the music. Exciting music. A time when music seemed magic and you didn't sit there analysing it. It just had the desired effect. Pure and simple.

The music to The Magnificent Seven lifts you out of your seat. It is still magic as far as I'm concerned. The greatest filmscore for a western ever! Written by Elmer Bernstein along with other great scores such as The Great Escape and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Cheers to Elmer Bernstein.

[Fred Story]

To the best of my knowledge, his last score was "Far From Heaven", which he completed at the age of 80. It's sublime - and an Oscar nominee.

Goldsmith, Raskin, and now Bernstein...all gone within such a short period. May they continue to inspire us...and may we all be doing such vital work in our golden years.

Fred Story

[dpcon]

Yes, three of the greatest ever in a very short period. It can't be just coincidence - there's a message in it. Everyone who aspires to film scoring must pay attention to who and what has left the art and profession. They must ask themselves if they are on a course to follow these footsteps (since no one can fill these particular shoes.)

I couldn't help notice the lack of response here to David Raksin's passing. A major musical figure and giant in film. Does the present generation really get the level of musicianship that the likes of he, Goldsmith and Elmer Bernstein had?

The Magnificent Seven has to be my favorite of his. It's a perfect score. To Kill A Mockingbird has one of the most heart rendering main titles ever written - it really brings tears. His score for Scorsese's The Age Of Innocence if ravishingly beautiful and brilliantly crafted - stunning actually. No wonder Scorsese worked with him so often. Can't forget Airplane which is a model of how to score comedy.

He will be greatly missed. I hope subsequent generations don't miss the opportunity of adding to the great legacy he and others have made us stewards over.

Dave Connor

[William]

I also would single out "To Kill a Mockingbird," which has a simple celeste and flute sound with a lydian theme evocative of childhood in an almost mystical way.

But also two radically different films "Stripes" and "The Ten Commandments." Stripes has a great military march Bernstein just dashed off as a fringe benefit to the comedy. And "The Ten Commandments" absolutely blows the film out of the water artistically. The movie itself was an appallingly bad, boring, incredibly stilted and artificial joke, with ludicrous lack of realism of any kind and a laughable performance by Charleton Heston. But Bernstein's epic score - composed when he was very young - is probably one of the ten best pieces of music ever written for a movie. An incredible wealth of musical imagination, from the exotic sounding dances to the choirs and the massive, epic sound of the marches and battle music. A huge number of themes and motifs, all of them great ones. Anyone who thinks the LOTR score is good ought to listen to the full, uncut recording of this score, which was beautifully recorded - in the 50s - in stereo.

Another one that comes to mind is "Sweet Smell of Success" - again, a completely different sound, this time an almost hysterical big band and jazz influenced score. The film was a great one, and Bernstein's music underscored and brought out the seamy, film noir story and increased the sense of desperation in the characters tremendously. Bernstein had as much versatility - and amazing excellence within that versatility - as Jerry Goldsmith who was renowned for the same.

[William]

"Everyone who aspires to film scoring must pay attention to who and what has left the art and profession. They must ask themselves if they are on a course to follow these footsteps (since no one can fill these particular shoes.)" Dave Connor

This is a great statement and very important to act upon. It is so easy to become routine and mechanical with things, and not think about what you are really doing and accomplishing.