Who Am I? February 2023

I was born in NYC of Russian-Jewish background. My dad, Abraham, was from Ukraine and worked as an optometrist. He encouraged my musical career by taking me to operas and getting me to take violin lessons. At age 13 I won a composition competition. Later on I attended the fine arts school at NYU and became a fellowship student at Juilliard.

I was hired by CBS as a staff conductor and later on as also a composer. That media network and I had a mutually beneficial arrangement and I remained in their employ on and off for 17 years. In that time I introduced the works of conductors. I even met my future wife there. We were obliged to delay our marriage for 5 years after we began courting because her folks nurtured a streak of anti-Semitism. Also, I don’t think they suffered my hot temper and acerbic personality.

I scored the music for “l’enfant terrible’s” radio shows including the one that scared tens of thousands of Americans to death. When he went to Hollywood’s RKO I followed and scored some of his films. I’ve also worked with the “master of suspense” as well as more contemporary directors like De Palma and Scorsese In Hollywood I was always an independent sort because I insisted on creative control of the mu- sic in my pictures whenever I got a scoring assignment. I was a perfectionist and so selective that I did my own orchestrations which raised the ire of many directors who I felt were generally clueless about music. Awards were less important to me than having total control of my work. I believed the best film music should be able to stand on its own. I felt “music should be based on phrases no longer than a second or two” because it was easier for audiences to follow. Not everybody appreciated my independence or personality. Once, Lew Wasserman, the senior studio executive and talent agent said to me, “Come around when you get hungry.” I replied, “I’ll tell you something. When I get hungry I go to Chasen’s."

I was a lifelong Anglophile and for many years I spent 6 months at an apartment in London and 6 months in the U.S.  

From the 1940’s through the 1970’s I scored Hollywood films. I conducted major orchestras in several countries. I composed for opera, musical comedies, and concert music though I considered drama my forte. My music has come in and out of favor over the years. Many of my scores were given new recordings and releases after my death. It is generally accepted that I have influenced generations of other scorers and I am considered one of the greatest film composers of my era. In fact in June 2011 to mark my centenary 3 of my scores in 3 acclaimed movies were screened at the Landmark Loew’s Theatre in Jersey City which also earned me some New Jersey bona fides albeit posthumously.

That’s me in the photo below. (1)”Who Am I?” What did my friends call me? (2)I composed themes and scores for two TV western shows that aired back￾to-back on Saturday nights in the 1950’s. What were the names of those 2 shows? (3a) Which 2 films that I composed the music for are my favorite accom- plishments? (3b)Who was “l’enfant terrible” referred to above? ORSON WELLES (4) What film did I actually win an Academy Award for?