Mancini was born Enrico Nicola Mancini in the Little Italy neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the steel town of West Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. His parents emigrated from the Abruzzo region of Italy. Mancini's father, Quinto, was a steelworker, who made his only child begin flute lessons at the age of eight. When Mancini was 12 years old, he began piano lessons. Quinto and Henry played flute together in the Aliquippa Italian immigrant band, "Sons of Italy". After high school, Mancini attended the renowned Juilliard School of Music in New York. In 1943, after roughly one year at Juilliard, his studies were interrupted when he was drafted into the army. In 1945, he participated in the liberation of a South German concentration camp.
Mancini recorded over 90 albums, in styles ranging from big band to classical to pop. Eight of these albums were certified gold by The Recording Industry Association of America. He had a 20 year contract with RCA Records, resulting in 60 commercial record albums that made him a household name composer of easy listening music.
Mancini's range also extended to orchestral and ethnic scores (Lifeforce, The Great Mouse Detective, Sunflower, "Tom and Jerry: The Movie", Molly Maguires, The Hawaiians), and darker themes ("Experiment In Terror," "The White Dawn," "Wait Until Dark," "The Night Visitor").
Mancini was also a concert performer, conducting over fifty engagements per year, resulting in over 600 symphony performances during his lifetime. Among the symphony orchestras he conducted are the London Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He appeared in 1966, 1980 and 1984 in command performances for the British Royal Family. He also toured several times with Johnny Mathis and with Andy Williams, who had sung many of Mancini's songs.[citation needed]
Mancini had experience with acting and voice roles. In 1994 he made a one-off cameo appearance in the first season of the sitcom series Frasier, as a call-in patient to Dr. Frasier Crane's radio show. Mancini voiced the character Al, who speaks with a melancholy drawl and hates the sound of his own voice, in the episode "Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast?" Mancini also had an uncredited performance as a pianist in the 1967 movie Gunn, the movie version of the series Peter Gunn, the score of which was originally composed by Mancini himself.
Mancini was nominated for an unprecedented 72 Grammys, winning 20 Additionally he was nominated for 18 Academy Awards, winning four. He also won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for two Emmys.
Mancini won a total of four Oscars for his music in the course of his career.
Mancini died at the age of 70 in Beverly Hills/Los Angeles, California of pancreatic cancer. He was working at the time on the Broadway stage version of Victor/Victoria. At the time of his death, Mancini was married to singer Virginia "Ginny" O´Connor, with whom he had three children. Ginny Mancini went on to found the Society of Singers a non profit organization which benefits the health and welfare of professional singers worldwide. Additionally the Society awards scholarships to students pursuing an education in the vocal arts and holds the annual Ella Awards.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers(ASCAP) Foundation "Henry Mancini Music Scholarship" has been awarded annually since 2001.
Moment To Moment
Henry Mancini Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I live for every moment with you
To see you, to touch you, to imagine this will be
The moment when a dream comes true
Just an ordinary day becomes adventure
Such sweet adventure I never knew
And life will be rainbows as I learn the secret of
From moment to moment with you
And life will be rainbows as I learn the secret of
The miracle that love can do
From moment to moment with you
The lyrics of Henry Mancini's song "Moment To Moment" convey a sense of anticipation and joy. The singer describes how every moment in their life is lived for the opportunity to be with the one they love. The lyrics suggest that the relationship is the source of adventure and wonder in their life, and that through love, life becomes more colorful, like a rainbow.
The singer seems to be deeply in love and sees their time with their partner as an escape from the ordinary. The lyrics convey a feeling of hope and the belief that anything is possible when they are together. The repeated line "from moment to moment" emphasizes the idea that the present moment is precious and all that matters is being present with their loved one.
Line by Line Meaning
From moment to moment every moment that I live
I live in the present and cherish each moment, moment by moment
I live for every moment with you
I treasure every moment spent with you
To see you, to touch you, to imagine this will be
I yearn to be with you, touching you and imagining a future with you
The moment when a dream comes true
I hope for the moment when we can fulfill our collective dreams
Just an ordinary day becomes adventure
Every mundane day turns into a thrilling adventure with you
Such sweet adventure I never knew
I never thought that life could be so wonderful until I met you
And life will be rainbows as I learn the secret of
My life will be colorful and full of wonder as I discover the secret of
The miracle that love can do
The amazing things that love can accomplish
From moment to moment with you
Each moment spent with you is precious and unforgettable
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHNNY MERCER, HENRY N. MANCINI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Lovemycoffee10
Mancini was truly Gifted...his Beautiful music is Genius, timeless. What a great composer
@robertrawlins3575
He was remarkable; he wasn't gifted. Just look at his credits--films, tv, pop songs--did he ever stop working? Yes, his music is timeless, and he sacrificed dearly for it. Music doesn't pour out of a genius like Mancini; it is the result of agony, sweat, and relentless hard work. And we should be grateful for that.
@rockywood21
How could one person continuously write beautiful music. A genius
@MySpace662
This is Music! What a talent , he has contributed so much to good Music.
@alvalindabushmann245
Mr Mancini gave us such beautiful music with his many scores. They are simply timeless.
@cindygardner3147
I am one of those listeners. So lucky that my parents loved really good movies with wonderful sound tracks!
@mykicks2
Heard this song on the simpsons and immediately fell in love. Thank you Simpsons and Mancini this piece is like almost a comforting sadness
@brianh_529
You already know businessman Homer
@cptnoremac
Any idea where to find the version from the show? It has a different ending from this and I really like it.
@cptnoremac
I found out Fox owns everything Alf Clausen wrote and they haven't released this anywhere, and they probably never will. And sadly the one in The Simpsons has sound effects over it. So I hacked together both versions into a track I'm happy with. Suck on that, Fox.