Max Steiner

MAX STEINER (1888-1971)

 

Maximillian Raoul Walter Steiner was born in Vienna on May 10th 1888. Max was the grandson of the musical impresario who discovered Strauss and brought Offenbach to Vienna. With such a rich musical and operatic home life, it is no wonder that Steiner developed into a music prodigy. His father, also a theatrical producer, had Brahms, someone he had promoted and befriended, give Max piano lessons. At 13 he had already completed and graduated from the Imperial Academy of Music, winning the Gold Medal of the Emperor. By the time he was 16 he was already conducting, composing, and continuing his studies under Gustav Mahler. In 1905 he left Austria for England, taking a position as conductor of His Majesty’s Theatre, a post he held until 1914. With the help of the Duke of Westminister in 1915, Max found his way to New York and began working on musicals and operettas. He also began to compose and conduct screenings for silent films. On one such film “The Bondman” he became friends with the producer William Fox, which eventually became his ticket to go west to Hollywood in 1929. His first employment was as an orchestrator for the 1929 Ziegfield “Rio Rita.”

It was at RKO pictures that Max developed his style of writing scores for films. Adapting the concept created by Richard Wagner, Max wrote music that became a dramatic content of the film, not just a background filler. His films “Symphony of Six Million”, “King Kong”, and “The Informer” were examples of the leitmotif style of music he became so very famous for. While his critics referred to this style of music as “Mickey Mousing” the producers and directors loved his music. They could count on the fact that Steiner would make a good film better and great film superb. Shortly after being let go by RKO he was hired by David O. Selznick to begin work on the classic “Gone With The Wind.” From there he was hired by Warner Bros. where he remained for the majority of his working days. One of his first assignments was a film “Tovarich” part of which became the famous Warner Bros. fanfare introduction to their films.

Max in his career produced scores for over 250 films! He recieved 26 nominations from the Academy and took home three Oscars. His Oscar winning scores were “The Informer”, “Now, Voyager”, and “Since You Went Away.” Other nominated films included “The Lost Patrol”, “The Life of Emil Zola”, “Gone With The Wind”, “Casablanca”, “Caine Mutiny”, and “Battle Cry.” Curiously omitted from any consideration were such classics as “King Kong”, “They Died With Their Boots On”, and “Treasure of the Sierra Madre.” “King Kong” is considered by many to have set the standard as to how film scores were to be written for many years to come.

After many years of suffering from cancer and failing eyesight Max Steiner passed away in Hollywood on December 28th 1971. To many of us Max will always be known as “The Father of Film Music”. He composed dynamic orchestrated scores with wonderful melodies that enhanced what we saw on the screen.

Quotation of note: “If Wagner had lived in this century he would have been the number one film composer”.

 

Victor Young

Victor Young was born on August 8, 1900 in Chicago, Illinois to a musical family. His father was a tenor with the Chicago Opera and by the age of 6 Victor was beginning to play the violin. After the death of his mother in 1908, Victor and his sister Helen were sent to Warsaw Poland to live with his grandparents. His grandfather was able to send him to the Warsaw Conservatory of Music and being a willing pupil he graduated and made his debut as a concert violinist with the Warsaw Phiharmonic. Still a teenager, he went on a successful tour of Europe and the United States, enhancing his career as a concert violinist even further. He returned to Chicago in the 1920’s and accepted a position as a musical director for the Balana and Katz chain of movie theaters. This required him to arrange music for the most important presentations. As a result of this Victor discovered his talent for composing, arranging, and orchestrating popular music. Within a few years he had moved to Los Angeles, signed a contract with Brunswick Records as a conductor, and had become the best known music director for radio and records.In 1935 he accepted a postion from Paramount Pictures as a musical director, composer, and arranger. For the next 20 years Hollywood was to become his home and film music his main profession. He scored over 300 films during the next two decades, compiling 22 Oscar nominations along the way. Victor had the ability to be able to produce wonderful melodies for films no matter what the subject matter. While films like “Love Letters” and “My Foolish Heart” are long forgotten, the theme songs are still performed today by a variety of pop and jazz artists. He may have been the best melody writer that Hollywood has ever had. In his later years he revealed that he had found inspiration and kinship from Rachmaninov, who had also settled in Los Angeles about the time that Young did. Films such as “For Whom the Bells Toll”, “The Quiet Man”, “The Blue Dahlia”, and “Samson and Delilah” showed his versatility for all types of productions, from film noir to biblical. When once asked why he became a film composer he shook his head. “Why, indeed? Why would any trained musician let himself in for a career that calls for the exactitude of an Einstein, the diplomacy of Churchill, and the patience of a martyr? And yet I can think of no other musical medium that offers as much challenge, excitement and demand for creativity in putting music to work.” This perhaps was the reason why he worked so hard and continuously for the twenty years he was involved with Hollywood.

The frantic pace, poor diet, cigar smoking, and ignoring the advice of his doctor took its toll in 1956 and he passed away from a stroke on November 11, 1956 in Los Angeles. Even in failing health in his last year he did scores for “The Brave One”, The Buster Keaton Story”, “Omar Khyyam”, and “Run Of The Arrow”, all released after his death. His last score “China Gates” was completed by his long time friend Max Steiner. Sadly, his only Oscar came after his death in the spring of 1957 for “Around the World in 80 Days”, perhaps his finest achievement. His passing symbolized the end of an era in Hollywood. Within a short time the music departments at 20th Century Fox (Alfred Newman), Warner Bros. (Max Steiner) and Paramount (Young), were dismantled, and with them went the romantic films scores that all were famous for. Even with the revival and re-recordings of golden-age film music, Young’s film music has been basically forgotten. Perhaps the new recordings of “Scaramouche” and “The Univited” are hints that other scores are in the works for release. One can only hope that such a prolific composer can be enjoyed by future generations.