Henry Mancini
If the recognition of one's peers is the true measure of success, then few men are as successful as composer, arranger, and conductor Henry Mancini. In a career that spanned 40 years, writing for film and television, Mancini won four Oscars and twenty Grammys, the all-time record for a pop artist. For 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's alone, Mancini won five Grammys and two Oscars. Breakfast at Tiffany's includes the classic "Moon River" (lyrics by Johnny Mercer), arguably one of the finest pop songs of the last 50 years. At last count, there were over 1,000 recordings of it. His other notable songs include "Dear Heart," "Days of Wine and Roses" (one Oscar, two Grammys), and "Charade," the last two with lyrics by Mercer. He also had a number one record and won a Grammy for Nino Rota's "Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet." Among his other notable film scores are The Pink Panther (three Grammys), Hatari! (one Grammy), Victor/Victoria (an Oscar), Two for the Road, Wait Until Dark, and 10. His television themes include "Peter Gunn" (two Grammys, recorded by many rock artists), "Mr. Lucky" (two Grammys), "Newhart," "Remington Steele," and The Thorn Birds television mini-series.
As a child, Mancini learned how to play a variety of musical instruments and as a teenager, he became enamored with jazz and big bands. He began to write arrangements and sent a few to Benny Goodman, who wrote the teenager back, encouraging him to pursue a career in music. Mancini enrolled in the Julliard School of Music in 1942, but his studies were cut short when he served in the military during World War II. After the war, he was hired by Tex Beneke, the leader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, as a pianist and arranger. In the late '40s, he began writing scores for record and film studios, first for a recording session by the Mel-Tones, which featured his wife Ginny O'Connor, and then the Abbot & Costello film Lost in Alaska, the first movie he scored.
Lost in Alaska led to more film scores, in particular 1954's The Glenn Miller Story and 1956's The Benny Goodman Story, which both showcased his big band roots. Soon, he was working on a large number of films and television, including Orson Welles' Touch of Evil and the TV show Peter Gunn. Mancini's scores frequently straddled the line between jazz and Hollywood dramatics, making his music both distinctive and influential.
Mancini's heyday was the early '60s, when his score for Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) yielded the Oscar-winning hit single "Moon River," which instantly became a pop standard. The following year, he wrote the music for Days of Wine and Roses, which also won an Oscar for its title song. Throughout the next three decades, he continued to be one of the most successful film composers in the world, as well as a popular concert conductor. He continued working until his death in 1994; just prior to his demise, he was writing the score for the musical adaption of Victor/Victoria.
What kept Mancini's work fresh was his ability to write in almost any style imaginable and his successful experimentations with unusual sounds and instruments. In his 1989 memoir Did They Mention the Music?, Mancini's co-author Gene Lees wrote that "More than any other person, he Americanized film scoring, and in time even European film composers followed in his path," and that Mancini wrote scores that "contained almost as many fully developed song melodies as a Broadway musical." Had he not remained true to his first love, film scoring, Mancini would have more than likely made as large an impact on the Broadway stage as he made on the silver screen.
© Kenneth M. Cassidy & Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
Artistas semelhantes
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Mancini Marches
Pop - Lançado por Rhino - Warner Records em 01/01/1963
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Music From Peter Gunn
Film Soundtracks - Lançado por Red Cab Records em 01/01/1956
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The Mancini Touch (with Shelly Manne)
Jazz - Lançado por Moonbeams Records em 31/12/1959
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Classic Mancini - The Classic Film Scores of Henry Mancini
Gregg Nestor, William Kanengiser
Soundtracks - Lançado por BSX Records em 15/06/2012
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Mancini Concert
Pop - Lançado por RCA - Legacy em 01/04/1971
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The Pink Panther Soundtrack
Film Soundtracks - Lançado por Thames Themes em 18/08/2014
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Breakfast at Tiffany's (Music from the Motion Picture Score)
Film Soundtracks - Lançado por Top Tracks em 20/10/2022
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Tango Americano
Jazz - Lançado por Blue Mood em 15/08/2017
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Baby Elephant Walk
Lounge - Lançado por Classic & Lunatic em 20/02/2015
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Hatari! Original (Soundtrack Recording)
Film Soundtracks - Lançado por Foyer em 01/01/2000
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The Great Race - Soundtrack
Film Soundtracks - Lançado por Master Classics Records em 01/01/2011
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Session at Pete's Pad
Lounge - Lançado por MFY em 13/11/2014
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Mancini In Hollywood - Mr. Lucky & Other Film & TV Greats
TV Series - Lançado por RCA Victor em 28/01/1993
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Mr. Lucky / Mr. Lucky Goes Latin
Film Soundtracks - Lançado por Vintage Masters Inc. em 01/06/2012
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Charleston Alley
Jazz - Lançado por Tomcatz em 20/02/2017
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Henry Mancini - His Greatest Hits (93 Tracks) (Peter Gunn, Mr. Lucky, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Hatari, and Many More)
Pop - Lançado por Masterpieces Pop em 31/07/2015
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The Soundtrack to the Motion Picture the Pink Panther
Film Soundtracks - Lançado por Thames Themes em 18/08/2014
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Peter Gunn
Pop - Lançado por Classic Music International em 01/01/1956
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Driftwood and Dreams
Jazz - Lançado por Music Manager em 12/09/2019
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Music for the Movies
Pop - Lançado por Music Manager em 22/06/2015
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Henry Mancini - Moon River
Film Soundtracks - Lançado por Addictive Control REC. em 04/09/2015
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