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Film Composers and Soundtracks
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Dimitri Tiomkin was born in Ukraine on 10 May 1894; and died in London on 11 November 1979, at the age of eighty-five.
During his long film music career he received many accolades, including Oscar nominees for
LOST HORIZON (1937), MR. SMITH GOES
TO WASHINGTON (1940); Oscar-winning scores to THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (1954) and THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA (1958); and the Grammy nominated GUNS OF NAVARONE (1961). Yet among his great film scores, there is one that Tiomkin will be especially remembered for: HIGH NOON (1952).
He was the first composer to be awarded two Oscars for the same dramatic film.Tiomkin received one Oscar for his film score and the other for the film’s song, “High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’),” with lyrics by Ned Washington.
The song began a trend that continues today – a hit song used to promote or "sell the film."
In the case of "High Noon," there were two major hit records -- one by Frankie Laine and the other by Tex Ritter, who sang the song in the film.
Here is an excerpt from a book discussing this song and score:
The song is used throughout the film as a folk ballad about Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) who asks his bride (Grace Kelly) to 'do not forsake me.' Instead of an instrumental theme for the Main Title, the song is heard in the complete version...The accompaniment is very simple, just guitar and drums. To illustrate how concise the film really is, the lyrics tell the whole story of the film - in under 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
Besides being used as Main Title music, the song theme is heard at other stragetic scenes in the film. Perhaps the most effective of them all is the scene called - 'The Clock.' This is where Marshall Will Kane writes his Last Will and Testament just before the train arrives at noontime. The music starts with harp and pizzicato strings imitating the clock pendulum moving steadily back and forth. Then above that constant pendulum ticking are the brass and woodwinds playing portions of the song, as the music builds with an overpowering intensity until it stops suddenly before the train whistle is heard and Kane looks up from his writing.
-- from A Guide to Film Music: Songs and Scores by Roger L. Hall
Both the Frankie Laine and Tex Ritter (with 3 different recordings from 1952) are featured on this fascinating CD with different artists (including German and Danish) performing the movie song, such as: Robert Horton, Chet Atkins, Bill Hayes, Faron Young, Henry Mancini, and many more...
HIGH NOON - 25 Artists, One Song
(Left to right: Dimitri Tiomkin at the piano, Tex Ritter and Ned Washington looking on)
There is an excellent new CD of the complete soundtrack with the title song sung by Tex Ritter now available:
Tiomkin conducts the main theme from HIGH NOON on this enjoyable compilation:
MUSIC IN FILM: National Public Radio Milestones of the Millennium
Read the CD reviews for these other highly recommended Tiomkin soundtracks:
THE BIG SKY (BYU FMA) - Editor's Choice
D.O.A. (Film Score Monthly) - Editor's Choice
LAND OF THE PHARAOHS (Film Score Monthly - 2CDs) - Special Merit
RED RIVER (Marco Polo) - Special Merit
THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD and TAKE THE HIGH GROUND
(Film Score Monthly) - Editor's Choice
"In Hollywood vernacular, I could write commercial." -- Dimitri Tiomkin
Read Roger Hall's tribute to Hollywood's highest paid film composer of the 1950s, reprinted with a new addendum of recordings at
Also read the DVD review of Dimitri Tionkin's monumental score for
Bernard Herrmann: The Early Years
"Film music must apply what an actor cannot say. The music must really convey what the word cannot do. If you're dealing with an emotional subject this is the complete purpose of a film score."
-- Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975)
He is one of the most admired film composers from the past.
Read the article about Bernard Herrmann
and his early film scores,
with a new addendum of CDs
at this excellent site:
See also these CD reviews of Herrmann scores:
THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951)
THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO and FIVE FINGERS(1952)
BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF (1953)
THE EGYPTIAN (1954 - with Alfred Newman)
CITIZEN KANE:
The Essential Bernard Herrmann Film Music Collection (2 CDs)
"It’s quite expensive to add music to a film. It would be a shame if nobody paid attention to it (laughter). The producers would have thrown their money out the window." -- Aaron Copland
Read the interview by FMR Editor Roger Hall
with the distinguished composer Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
at this excellent site:
Read the review of Copland's last film score from 1961
Also available is "A Conversation with Aaron Copland" at
American Music Recordings Collection
Ennio Morricone -- Honorary Oscar
100th Birthday Tribute to Miklos Rozsa and Web Poll
John Williams -- 75th birthday and Listener's Poll
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Praise from distinguished film composers for the 2nd edition!
"Thank you for the copy of your film music book. Congratulations and best wishes for success in your future contributions to the film music literature"-- John Williams,
film composer and conductor"I do feel your book is done in a most interesting way. It affords a quick overview of what has not become a very, very broad field. Congratulations!" -- Elmer Bernstein, late film composer and conductor
"Your film music guide should be available to anyone interested in the Golden Age and beyond. I was so happy that KING KONG made your all-time list" --
John Morgan, film composer and score restorer.The new updated 3rd edition (PineTree Press, 2007) is now available, written by film music historian and FMR Editor, Roger L. Hall.
It contains corrections to the previous edition, as well as The Academy Awards (Oscars) for film music from 2001 to 2006, and The Sammy Awards. Also, there are letters and autographs from three film composers: Elmer Bernstein, Randy Newman, and John Williams.
The years covered in this 3rd edition are from 1926 to 2006. This guide has the same contents as the previous 2002 edition...
Contents
- A timeline of film music highlights from 1926 to 2001
- A chapter on suggestions for listening to film music:
- Musical Songs (“Lullaby of Broadway”)
- Featured Songs (“As Time Goes By”)
- Title Songs (“High Noon”)
- Developmental Score (Citizen Kane)
- Leitmotif (King Kong)
- Monothematic (Laura)
- A complete list of Academy Award film music from 1934 to 2000
- A complete list of the Sammy Movie Music Awards from 1988 to 2001
- Top 100 Scores of the 20th Century
- Comments on Film Music:
- Exclusive interviews with two composers: Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson.
- The Composer as Commentator: Bernard Herrmann, David Raksin,
Dimitri Tiomkin.- The Composer as Critic: Elmer Bernstein.
- The Film Lyricist and Songwriter: Sammy Cahn and Henry Mancini.
- The Movie Critic and Historian: David Thomson and Tony Thomas.
- An extensive bibliography and discography.
In addition, there are many illustrations of composer autographs, including:
The title page (shown at left) with music from the end credits of E.T., boldly signed by John Williams.
Other autographs include:
Bernard Herrmann, Alex North, Miklos Rozsa, Max Steiner, Dimitri Tiomkin,
and John Williams.There are also songwriter autographs by Sammy Cahn, George & Ira Gershwin, Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer, and Jay Livingston.
Now On Sale!
If you order the 3rd edition of A Guide to Film Music from this web site
you will receive a Free CD-R of film music examples.You have a choice of ONE of these three CD-Rs from the AMP Store:
13. "Film Music and The Sammy Awards" (25 tracks) -- Oscar music tributes on radio and the annual Sammy Awards for movie music.
14. "John Williams on Radio" (22 tracks) -- featuring a birthday tribute and a lengthy interview.
15. " Listener's Guide to Film Music" (25 tracks) -- includes rare soundtrack recordings from DON JUAN (1926), HOLLYWOOD HOTEL (1937), CASABLANCA (1942), CITIZEN KANE (1941), and THE GODDESS (1958) and other music from classic films.
Select any ONE of these CD-Rs when you order A Guide to Film Music.
This Book and CD-R combo is only available through this web site.
After you have ordered the guide, send an e-mail to indicate
which Free CD-R (No. 13, 14, or 15)
you want by writing to:
This book is also available (without the CD-R of music examples) from Amazon.com at
Are you a filmmaker or music supervisor looking for vintage source music to
evoke an era for your feature film or documentary?Here are several examples:
The 1960s: "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" (sung by Dionne Warwick)
The 1950s: "Goodnight, Irene" (sung by The Weavers)
The 1940s (World War II Era): "At Last" from ORCHESTRA WIVES,
featuring Glenn Miller and His Orchestra
The 1930s (Great Depression): "Pennies From Heaven" (sung by Bing Crosby)
Would you like to determine what kind of vintage songs you need
for your film or documentary?Write for more details and fees to Roger Hall at:
Film Music Review (now in its 10th year online)
See the surveys which include many
film songs and scores atNational Carry A Tune Week 2007
(In Memory of Luciano Pavarotti)National Carry A Tune Week 2006
National Carry A Tune Week 2005
Read what web readers have picked as their
Favorite Film Scores from the 1930s to 1970s
Film music historian and FMR editor, Roger Hall, has chosen a list of the
100 Essential Film Scores of the 20th Century
For a list of recommended information,
see these
Please help the preservation efforts of
Film Music Review
Use this Search for Books, CDs, DVDs and other products...
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