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Recently, famed film music composer Jerry Goldsmith passed away at
the age of 75. I am not going to give an overview of his career. There
are already plenty of those kinds of tributes around on the internet
(see links below). I’d rather give a personal account of what his music
meant to me...
The first Jerry Goldsmith CD I purchased was RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART
II. Oddly, I had first been acquainted with the music via the Commodore
64 game adaptation of his film’s music. This score still remains as one
of the greatest action scoring presented for a film, as well as a
personal favourite.
It wasn’t long before Jerry became my favourite film music composer,
and it soon became no coincidence that many of my most loved films
featured his wonderful scores. I felt that every score he composed
contained a piece of his past, and a glispse of the future to come, of
his
overall career in film music.
Twice I flew from Australia to the UK to watch and listen Jerry
conduct his lifetime of music to the brilliant London Symphony
Orchestra. Each occasion was memorable and an unforgettable event.
The first time, in 2001, I flew alone to the UK just days before the
concert at Royal Albert Hall. When asked at Heathrow by a British
Customs officer the purpose of my visit, I mentioned the concert. To my
surprise, the lady knew of Jerry Goldsmith and his music.
The concert was fantastic, of course. Every time I hear the Star Trek
Voyager theme on television, I think of that night, and see each member
of the LSO perform each note of that Emmy award winning theme.
The next day was my birthday, but I had felt I already has received a
great gift, and was ready to fly back home to Australia.
In 2003, I returned to the UK, this time with my wife, as we enjoyed
the two Jerry Goldsmith concerts with the LSO. Two different nights
with different programmes, but linked in the memory as one event. The
performance of the suite from MULAN was a personal highlight. My wife,
who has a vague interest in film music, commented that it was
eye-opening to see music so familiar performed so visually. Who would
have guessed that theme from The WALTONS could have sounded so good.
I had at one stage over 100 CDs of Jerry Goldsmith film music. I
sold most of them, keeping only a dozen that I REALLY liked playing
over and over again. Also, I found that listening to the CDs was no
comparison to being at the concerts.
Sadly, there will no longer be anymore Jerry concerts, though I’m sure
his music will continue to be performed by many orchestras around the
world for years to come.
I cherish the LSO concerts I attended even more with his passing.
I thank Jerry for his music. I am even more thankful for his music of
the past five years, which I feel was as strong, creative and enjoyable
as any time in his professional life.
Regards, Travers Cleeman (ICQ #4239950)
MY TEN
FAVOURITE JERRY GOLDSMITH FILM SCORES ON CD (in no particular order)
The 13th WARRIOR
RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II
TOTAL RECALL
FIRST KNIGHT
STAR TREK - The MOTION PICTURE
UNDER FIRE
The CHALLENGE
LIONHEART
MULAN
-Links to Jerry Goldsmith tributes-
http://www.varesesarabande.com/details.asp?pid=Jerry
http://filmscoremonthly.com/articles/2004/29_Jul---Jerry_Goldsmith.asp
http://filmscoremonthly.com/articles/2004/27_Jul---On_The_Loss_Of_Jerry_Goldsmith.asp
http://emmys.com/news/2004/july/goldsmith.php
http://www.jerrygoldsmithonline.com/
http://www.filmmusic.dk/jerry2.html
http://www.filmtracks.com/composers/goldsmith.shtml
http://users.pandora.be/soundtrack-fm/tribute_jerry_goldsmith.htm
http://www.soundtrack.net/features/article/?id=125
http://www.trekweb.com/articles/2004/07/22/40ffc9e467af3.shtml
http://www.lso.co.uk/home/index.asp?id=207
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/Pf/0,1527,14566,00.html
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000583406
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/07/22/obit.goldsmith.ap/index.html
http://www.ktvu.com/entertainment/3566063/detail.html