Elliot Goldenthal (born May 2, 1954) is an American composer of contemporar… Read Full Bio ↴Elliot Goldenthal (born May 2, 1954) is an American composer of contemporary classical music and film and theatrical scores. A student of Aaron Copland and John Corigliano, he is best known for his distinctive style and ability to blend various musical styles and techniques in original and inventive ways. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2002 for his score to the motion picture Frida, directed by his longtime partner Julie Taymor.

Goldenthal was born on May 2, 1954, the youngest son of a Jewish housepainter father and a Catholic seamstress mother in Brooklyn, New York City, where he was influenced from an early age by music from all cultures and genres. Both pairs of Goldenthal's grandparents emigrated to the United States from Bucharest and Iași, Romania. Goldenthal lived in a multi-cultural part of town, and this is reflected in his works. He attended John Dewey High School in Brooklyn where, at the age of 14, he had his very first ballet Variations on Early Glimpses performed; he continued to display his eclectic musical range, performing with rock bands in the seventies. He then studied music full-time at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with composer John Corigliano (whom he greatly admired), to earn his Bachelor of Music degree (1977) and Master of Music degree (1979) in musical composition.

Goldenthal has written works for concert hall, theater, dance and film. His work includes music for films such as Alien 3, Michael Collins, Batman Forever, Heat and the Academy Award-winning score for Julie Taymor's Frida, a movie in which Goldenthal had a small acting part as a "Newsreel Reporter". Incidentally he also had a small part in the stage show Juan Darièn as a "Circus Barker / Streetsinger".

The Tony-Award-winning Juan Darién: A Carnival Mass (1988/'96) and The Green Bird (1999), based on a story by Carlo Gozzi, are a two of the composer's theatre works. In 2006, Goldenthal completed his original three-act opera with Taymor entitled Grendel an adaptation of the John Gardner novel of the same name which told the story of Beowulf from the monster Grendel's point of view. It had its world premiere in early June 2006 at the Los Angeles Opera, the role of Grendel performed by Eric Owens, with an audience that included John Williams and Emmy Rossum; the opus was added to the Los Angeles Opera's permanent repertoire and earned Goldenthal a nomination in April 2007 for the Pulitzer Prize for Music. In 2008 Goldenthal reunited with Michael Mann to score 1930s gangster movie Public Enemies and in 2009 he scored another Julie Taymor Shakespeare adaptation, The Tempest. He cites Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu as an influence and someone he styles his own career on; Goldenthal has said that the lines between traditional concert music and orchestral film score have become more blurred which is the way he thinks it should be. He has also collaborated four times with Irish director Neil Jordan, including on his films Interview with the Vampire and In Dreams.

Elliot Goldenthal has been called the "thinking man's composer" by film-music collectors and a generally more cerebral choice for film makers and lovers of film music. He is known for his experimentation, nuances and willingness to try unconventional techniques. He has scored films in almost every genre from horror to action to Shakespeare adaptations. He has not yet scored comedy, but he has composed comedic motifs for several films such as Demolition Man and the Batman series. His eclectic output has gained him a great deal of respect in the music and film communities and with fans. He is widely appreciated for his musical abilities and distinctive style, although some find his work to be too experimental or inaccessible. His action music is brutal and atonal. Sometimes, in underscore, he uses very fast French horn passages with bending tones and whining. Goldenthal has said that he doesn't "hear" atonal and tonal, rather, "I either hear melody or I hear sonority".

La Llorona
Elliot Goldenthal Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Todos me dicen el negro, Llorona
Negro pero cariñoso.
Todos me dicen el negro, Llorona
Negro pero cariñoso.
Yo soy como el chile verde, Llorona
Picante pero sabroso.
Yo soy como el chile verde, Llorona
Picante pero sabroso.

Ay de mí, Llorona Llorona,
Llorona, llévame al río
Tápame con tu rebozo, Llorona
Porque me muero de frió

Si porque te quiero quieres, Llorona
Quieres que te quieres más
Si ya te he dado la vida, Llorona

¿Qué mas quieres?
¿Quieres más?

Overall Meaning

The two stanzas of Elliot Goldenthal's "La Llorona" discuss the singer's identity and plea to the mythical figure. In the opening lines of the song, the singer introduces himself as a loving black man. This may be understood in a literal or metaphorical sense. Since the song is in relation to the traditional Mexican folk song of the same name, it could be interpreted as a black bird. The persona further characterizes himself as the chili pepper. The spicy flavor may describe his temperament, and the deliciousness could indicate the passionate love he has for the addressee.

The second stanza describes the singer's longing to be held by La Llorona, the "crying woman." In Mexican folklore, La Llorona represents a woman who drowned her children and now cries for them endlessly. But, the singer seeks comfort in this figure to escape the bitter cold. The last two lines are a plea for clarity from La Llorona. He wonders what more he can give, for he has already given all of himself out of love.

Overall, the song is a lamentation not only of the singer's love but also his identity, which can be seen as an embodiment of Mexican culture. The use of language and symbols represent the Mexican experience and come together to create a powerful narrative that reflects the complexities of love and identity within a cultural context.

Line by Line Meaning

Todos me dicen el negro, Llorona
Everyone calls me 'the black one', Llorona

Negro pero cariñoso.
Black but loving.

Yo soy como el chile verde, Llorona
I am like green chili, Llorona

Picante pero sabroso.
Spicy but delicious.

Ay de mí, Llorona Llorona,
Oh woe is me, Llorona Llorona,

Llorona, llévame al río
Llorona, take me to the river

Tápame con tu rebozo, Llorona
Cover me with your shawl, Llorona

Porque me muero de frió
Because I am dying of cold.

Si porque te quiero quieres, Llorona
If because you want me, you want me, Llorona

Quieres que te quieres más
You want me to love you more.

Si ya te he dado la vida, Llorona
If I have already given you life, Llorona