Elmer Bernstein

One of the great composers of the so-called Silver Age of film music, Bernstein was, at different points in his career, pigeonholed as a composer of Westerns, jazz-styled scores, films noir, and comedies. However, he did all these genres well, often defining how that particular style of film would be scored in years to come. His frequent collaborators included John Sturges, Ivan Reitman, and Martin Scorsese. Bernstein wrote tender scores for films like To Kill a Mockingbird, Far From Heaven, and Bird Man of Alcatraz, and created indelible themes for The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape. His music for comedies like Airplane and Ghostbusters was often deadly serious and dramatic to contrast with the silly onscreen antics. One of his favored instruments later in his career was the Ondes Martenot, an electronic instrument that had an eerie sound similar to the theremin, but could be controlled with a keyboard. Bernstein wrote many stellar scores, but one of his best was for the animated cult film Heavy Metal. Despite the film's moniker, Bernstein conjured up a rip-roaring, sensational fantasy-adventure score for full orchestra. Bernstein died in 2004 after a long and glorious career.

The Age of Innocence
Bird Man of Alcatraz
The Black Cauldron
Far From Heaven
Ghostbusters
The Great Escape**
Heavy Metal**
Kings of the Sun
The Magnificent Seven**
The Miracle
The Ten Commandments**
To Kill a Mockingbird**
Trading Places