He collaborated with some of film history's most accomplished directors, including Robert Wise, Howard Hawks, Otto Preminger, Joe Dante, Richard Donner, Roman Polanski, Ridley Scott, Michael Winner, Steven Spielberg, Paul Verhoeven, and Franklin J. Schaffner. His work for Donner and Scott also involved a rejected score for Timeline and a controversially edited score for Alien, where music by Howard Hanson replaced Goldsmith's end titles and Goldsmith's own work on Freud: The Secret Passion was used without his approval in several scenes.
Goldsmith was nominated for six Grammy Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, nine Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, and eighteen Academy Awards (winning in 1976 for The Omen). He composed the Paramount Pictures Fanfare used from 1976 through 2011. The American Film Institute respectively ranked Goldsmith's scores for Chinatown (1974) and Planet of the Apes (1968) No. 9 and No. 18 on their list of the 25 greatest film scores. He is one of only five composers to have more than one score featured in the list, including Elmer Bernstein, Bernard Herrmann, Max Steiner, and John Williams.
Goldsmith was born February 10, 1929 in Los Angeles, California. His family was Romanian-Jewish. His parents were Tessa (nรฉe Rappaport), a school teacher, and Morris Goldsmith, a structural engineer. He started playing piano at age six, but only "got serious" by the time he was eleven. At age thirteen, he studied piano privately with concert pianist and educator Jakob Gimpel (whom Goldsmith would later employ to perform piano solos in his score to The Mephisto Waltz) and by the age of sixteen he was studying both theory and counterpoint under Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, who also tutored such noteworthy composers and musicians as Henry Mancini, Nelson Riddle, Herman Stein, Andrรฉ Previn, Marty Paich, and John Williams.
At age sixteen, Goldsmith saw the 1945 film Spellbound in theaters and was inspired by veteran composer Miklรณs Rรณzsa's soundtrack to pursue a career in music. Goldsmith later enrolled and attended the University of Southern California where he was able to attend courses by Rรณzsa, but dropped out in favor of a more "practical music program" at the Los Angeles City College. There he was able to coach singers, work as an assistant choral director, play piano accompaniment, and work as an assistant conductor.
Jerry Goldsmith has often been considered one of film music history's most innovative and influential composers. While presenting Goldsmith with a Career Achievement Award from the Society for the Preservation of Film Music in 1993, fellow composer Henry Mancini (Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Pink Panther) said of Goldsmith, "... he has instilled two things in his colleagues in this town. One thing he does, he keeps us honest. And the second one is he scares the hell out of us." In his review of the 1999 re-issue of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture soundtrack, Bruce Eder highly praised Goldsmith's ability, stating, "...one of the new tracks, 'Spock's Arrival,' may be the closest that Goldsmith has ever come to writing serious music in a pure Romantic idiom; this could have been the work of Rimsky-Korsakov or Stravinsky โ it's that good." In a 2001 interview, film composer Marco Beltrami (3:10 to Yuma, The Hurt Locker) stated, "Without Jerry, film music would probably be in a different place than it is now. I think he, more than any other composer bridged the gap between the old Hollywood scoring style and the the modern film composer."
In 2006, upon composing The Omen (a remake of the Goldsmith-scored 1976 film), Marco Beltrami dedicated his score to Goldsmith, which also included an updated arrangement of "Ave Satani" titled "Omen 76/06". Likewise, when composer Brian Tyler was commissioned in 2012 to update the Universal Studios logo for the Universal centennial, he retained the "classic melody" originally composed by Goldsmith in 1997, opting to "bring it into the 21st century."
Goldsmith was greatly influenced by movements of early 20th-century classical music, notably modernism, Americana, impressionism, dodecaphonism, and early film scores. He has cited Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Miklรณs Rรณzsa, Bernard Herrmann, Bรฉla Bartรณk, and Alban Berg, among others, as some of the main influences to his style of composition.
His style has been noted for its unique instrumentation, utilizing a vast array of ethnic instruments, recorded sounds, synthetic textures, and the traditional orchestra, often concurrently. When asked about his inclination for embracing new techniques and constantly shifting his musical palette throughout his career, Goldsmith said, "It seems like it's me, and that's that! Certain composers are doing the same thing over and over again, which I feel is sort of uninteresting. I don't find that you grow very much in that way. I like to keep changing, trying to do new things. Basically, I'm saying the same thing with a little different twist on it. Once you get caught up in the creative process, something inside takes over, and your subconscious just does it for you."
One reason for the consistency of Goldsmith's aural resonance and signature sound is his long time professional association with orchestrator Arthur Morton. Their first collaboration was on the film, Take Her She's Mine. In 1965, Goldsmith was tapped to score the features, Von Ryan's Express and Morituri. He recruited Morton to serve as his orchestrator. Their bond for a unique and expressive sound was borne, and their friendship flourished. Goldsmith went on to compose the soundtracks for Our Man Flint, The Trouble with Angels (with Frank De Vol), The Blue Max, The Sand Pebbles, and Stagecoach, all in 1966. Morton was there providing his orchestration services, assisting Goldsmith in attaining his visionary sounds. Their partnership endured for over 30 years and included the notable scores for Planet of the Apes (1968), Patton (1970), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Papillon (1973), Chinatown (1974), The Omen (1976), MacArthur (1977), Capricorn One (1978), Alien (1979), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Poltergeist (1982), First Blood (1982), Under Fire (1983), The Russia House (1990). The final score that Arthur Morton orchestrated for Goldsmith was L.A. Confidential (1997).
Goldsmith died at his Beverly Hills home on July 21, 2004, from colon cancer at the age of 75. He was survived by his wife Carol and his children Aaron, Joel (who also died of cancer on April 29, 2012), Carrie, Ellen Edson, and Jennifer Grossman.
If We Could Remember
Jerry Goldsmith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If we could remember
The moment of our birth
We give our voice to songs and whispers
And no what life is worth
Remember, remember
Suddenly there s beauty
And sorrow clings to angry questions
The days of dust at last
And morning holds us
When worlds come down and down
A dance of ghosts and ragged dreams
Spinning round, spinning round, spinning round
I remember, remember
If we could remember
The power of the light
That cripple prayers are sometimes exert
And hope survives the night, and hope survives the night
I remember, I remember, remember
The song "If We Could Remember" by Jerry Goldsmith is a poignant reflection on memory and the importance of remembering our roots. The opening line, "If we could remember the moment of our birth," sets the stage for a contemplation of the role memory plays in shaping our lives. The idea that remembering our birth would give us a deeper understanding of life's value is a powerful one, as it suggests that our memories hold the keys to unlocking life's mysteries.
Throughout the song, Goldsmith uses a series of contrasts and paradoxes to explore the themes of memory and identity. He suggests that remembering can bring both beauty and sorrow, peace and anger, hope and fear. The line "And sorrow clings to angry questions" captures this idea perfectly, showing how our memories can sometimes be painful and difficult to reconcile.
As the song progresses, Goldsmith shifts from a reflection on memory to a celebration of hope and the power of light. The line "The power of the light that cripple prayers are sometimes exert" offers a ray of hope in the face of adversity, reminding us that even in our darkest moments, hope can survive.
Overall, "If We Could Remember" is a beautiful and thought-provoking song that offers a powerful reflection on the importance of memory and the role it plays in shaping our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Remember
Let us not forget
If we could remember
If we only had the power to recall
The moment of our birth
The precise second we came into existence
We give our voice to songs and whispers
We use our vocal talent to create music and communicate softly
And know what life is worth
We would understand the value of existence
Suddenly there's beauty
In an instant, we realize the world's splendor
In peace there's all the past
When tranquil, we can reflect on our history
And sorrow clings to angry questions
Pain holds on tight to perplexed inquiries
The days of dust at last
Finally, the times of hardship come to an end
And morning holds us
The sunrise embraces us
When worlds come down and down
As everything crumbles apart
A dance of ghosts and ragged dreams
A bizarre performance of phantoms and shattered aspirations
Spinning round, spinning round, spinning round
Whirling and turning ceaselessly
The power of the light
The potency of illumination
That cripple prayers are sometimes exert
It's possible for weakened prayers to manifest
Hope survives the night, and hope survives the night
Optimism endures through all the darkness
I remember, I remember, remember
I am capable of reminiscing
Lyrics ยฉ Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JERRALD GOLDSMITH, PAUL WILLIAMS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@wannachase
This underrated gem of a movie has a powerful soundtrack
@vicentecatalan1261
Totally agree, according yo actually times
@stephenhuntsucker3766
Jerry Goldsmith has such an incredible range and depth as a composer, maybe more so than any modern one.
@AlexAceves1994
Marco Beltrami is the only composer who can follow Jerry's footsteps.
@gamingshark2464
@@AlexAceves1994 and Michael Giacchino
@LA-li4yw
Iโve heard many arias, this is the only one that makes me cry, i feel an inconsolable sadness.
@kouroshcyrus7596
I listened and I listened very carefully and it is the all mighty righteousness calling for our help. Be on the right side! Long Live The Righteousness of the Christ!
@GLCLNT
Jerry's requiem! Thanks for all Master :)
@levyan4718
Absolutely beautiful soundtrack to a underated gem of a movie, book was even better
@ernestocicia4364
When I eared for the first time this soundtrack, eared maybe 20 times continually.