Back
in February, we were able to get violinist Anne Akiko Meyers on the phone to
chat about her new Vivaldi album performed on the legendary Vieuxtemps Guarneri
del Gesu violin. While on the line, we asked her to name her favorite film
composer. Without hesitation, Ms. Meyers told us that she loves Charlie
Chaplin, who composed musical scores for his films. She told us that she loves
to play “Smile,” originally composed for the 1936 film Modern Times.
In
March, I had the pleasure of spending some time with flutist Sir James Galway
when he was in town performing with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. It turns
out that Sir Galway is a huge fan of movies and watches one a day with his
wife. When asked to name a film he thinks uses pre-existing music in an
effective way, Sir Galway responded Death
in Venice which uses the slow movement to Mahler’s Fifth Symphony.
Sir
Galway then went on to tell me about his old friend Henry Mancini, who is his
absolute favorite composer of film music. He compared Mancini to Verdi
explaining that in Italy, everyone can sing tunes written by Verdi, more so
than any other composer. In the same way, in the United States, everyone can
sing something written by Mancini, most commonly “Moon River” sung by Audrey
Hepburn in the 1961 film Breakfast at
Tiffany’s.
Who
is your favorite composer of film music?
