Throughout the 1960s, Goldsmith cemented his growing reputation as one of the most innovative and original composers working in Hollywood with a string of memorable scores, ranging from the delicate romance of A Patch of Blue (1965) to the militaristic grandeur of The Blue Max (1966). In part his distinctive approach to each project was inspired by the work of his musical mentor, Alex North, whose modern, jazzy score for A Streetcar Named Desire (1950) had a profound effect on the young composer. Indeed, Jerry Goldsmith paid tribute to his friend by re-recording several classic scores of his signature compositions, including his "lost" masterpiece, the unused original score for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

A hallmark of Jerry Goldsmith's career has been his willingness to experiment, often writing for eclectic instrumental groups (Chinatown, for example, is scored for strings, four pianos, four harps, two percussionists and trumpet) or incorporating unusual textures into his orchestration (an antique woodwind instrument, the serpent, is put to previously undreamed-of and terrifying use in Alien). Again, the early example set by Alex North, coupled with the precedent of a handful of prior mould-breaking works such as Leonard Rosenman's 12-tone score for The Cobweb (1955), encouraged Goldsmith's exploration of the possibilities inherent in film scoring. As early as Freud in 1962 he was writing stark and eerie music, entirely in sympathy with the film's subject, but at odds with the prevailing Hollywood style. His exploration of new and distinctive sonorities continued with Planet of the Apes, Patton and The Omen alongside many others.

This latter was an early example of Goldsmith's pioneering integration of synthesizers into the orchestra, a practice he has continued in later projects such as the impressionistic Legend (1985) and his Star Trek scores. During such a long and busy career, Jerry Goldsmith has inevitably worked with many of the most prominent directors in Hollywood. Aside from Franklin J. Schaffner, he scored The Sand Pebbles (1966) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) for veteran director Robert Wise.

 

More recently, he has composed music for films for Fred Schepisi (including The Russia House, 1990 and Fierce creatures, 1997) and Paul Verhoeven (Total Recall, 1990, Basic Instinct, 1992 and The Hollow Man). Another fruitful collaboration for Goldsmith, in which he was able to exercise his often underrated talent for comedy, was his work for Joe Dante: Gremlins (1984), The Burbs (1989), Innerspace, Small Soldiers, and Lonney Tunes Back in Action, his latest score. He also worked with Steven Spielberg both on Poltergeist (1982 - albeit with Spielberg nominally wearing his producer's hat), for which he produced another of those marvellously fertile scores so admired by fans and fellow composers, and Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983 - one segment of which was also directed by Joe Dante).

Less happy was his work for Ridley Scott, although their collaboration fortunately resulted in two classic Goldsmith scores. In 1979, the same year he began his long association with the Star Trek film series, he wrote a stark and terrifying score for Alien; the music is regularly cited alongside Psycho, Jaws and his own The Omen as one of the finest scores ever written for a horror movie. Scott seemed blissfully unaware of this at the time, however, replacing parts of the score

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with excerpts from Goldsmith's music for Freud and deleting entirely his 'End Title' music in favour of an extract from Howard Hanson's Romantic Symphony. Mirroring Alex North's unhappy experience with Kubrick's 2001, their second collaboration, Legend (1985), was even less successful for Goldsmith, who saw his richly impressionistic music indiscriminately cut when the film's length was reduced for its European release and then dropped entirely in favour of an electronic score from Tangerine Dream for the film's American print.

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Thankfully, both Alien and Legend are available on CD as the composer intended us to hear them, and soundtrack collectors can revel in their exotic soundworlds. Another field in which Goldsmith has had a great influence is television. His very first scores were written for CBS TV in the 1950s (Wagon Train, 1957, and The Twilight Zone, 1959, both benefited from his scoring), and during the 1960s and 1970s he penned some famous and enduring TV themes, notably Dr Kildare (1961), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964) and The Waltons (1972).

His theme for Star Trek: The Motion Picture became the main title for the series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), and most recently he has provided the theme for Star Trek: Voyager (1995). As a composer, Goldsmith believes passionately in film as a serious medium.

Time and again watching a movie with a Jerry Goldsmith score it is apparent that the dramatic synthesis of music and images is what inspires the composer. Although he has written some works for the concert hall, he regards himself as a composer of film music first and foremost, and treats every new film assignment with a single-mindedness and seriousness of purpose that has earned him universal respect

within the film community. That this has thus far only been given concrete shape in the form of one Oscar (for The Omen) is surely an aberration. Eighteen Academy Award nominations (including the latest, for Mulan this year), five Emmys and many other awards attest both to the breadth and remarkable quality of his work. We can all look forward to the continuing flow of superb music from his fertile pen.

 

Jerry Goldsmith has produced a body of work that has earned him an Academy Award in addition to sixteen Oscar nominations, seven Grammy nominations, five Emmy Awards and two additional Emmy nominations, and eight Golden Globe nominations.

Goldsmith's compositions span four decades, from his music for such early television programmes as The Twilight Zone, Gunsmoke and Dr Kildare to his scores for the recent films LA Confidential (which earned him both an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination), Air Force One, Mulan and Small Soldiers.

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It is essential to distinguish from his work such creative scores as Link, 1985 by Richard Franklin, Leviathan, 1990 by George Pan Cosmatos, The Shadow, 1994, Russel Mulcahy and the particularly original Warlock, 1991 for Steve Miner.

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He has over 175 motion pictures to his credit. After studying with Jakob Gimpel, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and, later, Ernst Krenek, Mr Goldsmith began his exceptional career as a composer and conductor for radio and television. His first popular success in a major motion picture came with the score he created for Lonely are the Brave in 1960: his critically acclaimed score for Freud (1962) soon followed. Goldsmith has repeatedly demonstrated the most vital qualities for composing for films — a solid dramatic sense, with the perception and imagination to create musical scenarios rather than obligatory ambiance. His contributions to the avante-garde world of Planet of the Apes (1968), to the martial pomp of Patton (1970), to the devastation of Chinatown and to the riveting terror of Poltergeist, have made these films all the more memorable.

His Oscar-winning score to The Omen added significantly to the visual horror of the film. Jerry Goldsmith has also masterfully written for some

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of the most prestigious events on television. His music for the six-hour movie QB VII (1975) and for Masada (1981) won him Emmy Awards in both instances. Jerry Goldsmith's accomplishments have not been limited to his success in Hollywood. His Music for Orchestra was premiered during the 1971-72 season of the St Louis Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Leonard Slatkin, and performed again by Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in March 1998. For the theatre he has written two ballets: Othello, premiered in 1971 and now in the permanent repertoire of the Australian Ballet, and A Patch of Blue, choreographed for the San Francisco Ballet in 1970. As a conductor, Goldsmith has appeared with the Detroit Symphony, the Syracuse Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the San Diego Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Utah Symphony, the New World Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops. the Pittsburgh Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C.. In Europe, he has appeared in Finland as well as with the LSO, the Royal Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic and the Madrid Symphony Orchestra.

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Boldly Going, the film voyages of jerry goldsmith by Mark Walker for LSO programme - 1999 ( adapted for the webSite )

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In 1997, following the example of Alfred Newman's famous Twentieth Century Fox fanfare, he composed the musical logo for Universal; like the banner that went around the world, it became immediately recognizable to the ears of the entire world. Two years later, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra - the emblematic group of a city dear to the composer's heart - will play the finale of the twirling Fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl. The Philharmonia Orchestra of London will then take over the score.

 

Jerry Goldsmith, who died on a sad July 21, 2004, of cancer, leaves behind a prolific body of work of exceptional quality, a true bridge between the "Golden Age" and the modern generation of composers. If Hollywood has not rewarded the musician's career, the recognition of his peers and the public has been able to stand the test of time. As a leading figure in film music, Jerry Goldsmith has marked a whole generation of musicians, some of whom were even his students. A humble creator who has largely contributed to redefining the musical genre, he knew how to bring all his inventiveness to films that sometimes had very confidential careers.

The exceptional capacity of creative renewal of the musician allowed remarkable symbioses between symphonic and electronic music, thus becoming an inexhaustible source of inspiration for a young generation sometimes too much inclined to samples. Some however understood and assimilated perfectly this heritage where the requirement is sublimated by a true love for the good music. Let's mention Christopher Young, David Arnold, James Newton Howard or John Powell. Others were able to measure themselves with his art in all admiration, of which the great John Williams, but also Basil Polédouris or John Scott...

                

The soul of the artist of genius that was Jerry Goldsmith still hovers, and for a long time on Hollywood and beyond his musical generosity, those who have been close to him keep in memory a man full of sympathy and humor.

 

Let's thank him for all this     

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