Don't Shoot the Composer

Last updated

Don't Shoot the Composer
Directed by Ken Russell
Produced byKen Russell
Release date
  • 1966 (1966)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Don't Shoot the Composer is a 1966 British documentary on the French cinema composer Georges Delerue. It was made by Ken Russell who used Delerue's music in French Dressing and would use it in Women in Love. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Russell</span> British film director (1927–2011)

Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films were mainly liberal adaptations of existing texts, or biographies, notably of composers of the Romantic era. Russell began directing for the BBC, where he made creative adaptations of composers' lives which were unusual for the time. He also directed many feature films independently and for studios.

<i>The Music Lovers</i> 1971 film by Ken Russell

The Music Lovers is a 1971 British drama film directed by Ken Russell and starring Richard Chamberlain and Glenda Jackson. The screenplay by Melvyn Bragg, based on Beloved Friend, a collection of personal correspondence edited by Catherine Drinker Bowen and Barbara von Meck, focuses on the life and career of 19th-century Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It was one of the director's biographical films about classical composers, which include Elgar (1962), Delius: Song of Summer (1968), Mahler (1974) and Lisztomania (1975), made from an often idiosyncratic standpoint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georges Delerue</span> French composer (1925–1992)

Georges Delerue was a French composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. Delerue won numerous important film music awards, including an Academy Award for A Little Romance (1980), three César Awards, two ASCAP Awards, and one Gemini Award for Sword of Gideon (1987). He was also nominated for four additional Academy Awards for Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), The Day of the Dolphin (1973), Julia (1977), and Agnes of God (1985), four additional César Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and one Genie Award for Black Robe (1991).

<i>Dont Shoot Me Im Only the Piano Player</i> 1973 album by Elton John

Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player is the sixth studio album by English musician Elton John. Released in January 1973 by DJM Records, it was the first of two studio albums he released in 1973, and was his second straight No. 1 album in the US and first No. 1 album in the UK.

<i>Tommy</i> (1975 film) 1975 British film

Tommy is a 1975 British satirical operetta fantasy drama film written and directed by Ken Russell and based on the Who's 1969 rock opera album Tommy about a "psychosomatically deaf, mute, and blind" boy who becomes a pinball champion and religious leader. The film featured a star-studded ensemble cast, including the band members themselves, Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Elton John, and Jack Nicholson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zygmunt Konieczny</span> Polish composer

Zygmunt Konieczny is a Polish composer of theatre and film music.

Vladimír Godár is a Slovak classical and film score composer. He is also known for his collaboration with the Czech violinist, singer, and composer Iva Bittová. As an academic, he is a writer, editor, and translator of books on historical music research. He has been active in reviving the music and reputation of 19th-century Slovak composer Ján Levoslav Bella.

<i>Partners</i> (1982 film) 1982 gay-themed buddy comedy directed by James Burrows

Partners is a 1982 American gay-themed buddy comedy film directed by James Burrows and starring Ryan O'Neal and John Hurt as a mismatched pair of cops.

<i>Valentino</i> (1977 film) 1977 Biopic by Ken Russell

Valentino is a 1977 American biographical film co-written and directed by Ken Russell and starring Rudolf Nureyev, Leslie Caron, Michelle Phillips, and Carol Kane. It is loosely based on the life of silent film actor Rudolph Valentino, as recounted in the book Valentino, an Intimate Exposé of the Sheik, written by Chaw Mank and Brad Steiger.

The World Soundtrack Awards, launched in 2001 by the Film Fest Gent, is aimed at organizing and overseeing the educational, cultural and professional aspects of the art of film music, including the preservation of the history of the soundtrack and its worldwide promotion. The event takes place yearly in Ghent, Belgium with the ceremony usually at the Capitole Concert Hall. Usually, the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Dirk Brossé performs the awarded music at the ceremony.

<i>Get Out Your Handkerchiefs</i> 1978 film by Bertrand Blier

Get Out Your Handkerchiefs is a 1978 French romantic comedy film directed by Bertrand Blier and starring Carole Laure, Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Dewaere and Riton Liebman. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Academy Awards.

Elgar is a British drama documentary made in 1962 by the British director Ken Russell for BBC Television's Monitor series. It dramatised in vigorous style the life of the English composer Sir Edward Elgar.

Monitor was a British arts television programme that was launched on 2 February 1958 on BBC and ran until 1965.

<i>Song of Summer</i> Film about Delius, the English composer

Song of Summer is a 1968 black-and-white television film co-written, produced, and directed by Ken Russell for the BBC's Omnibus series which was first broadcast on 15 September 1968. It portrays the final six years of Frederick Delius' life, during which Eric Fenby lived with the composer and his wife Jelka as Delius's amanuensis. The title is borrowed from the Delius tone poem A Song of Summer, which is heard along with other Delius works on the film's soundtrack.

<i>French Dressing</i> (1964 film) 1964 film by Ken Russell

French Dressing is a 1964 British comedy film directed by Ken Russell and starring James Booth, Marisa Mell and Roy Kinnear. Its plot concerns a deckchair attendant in the run-down seaside resort of Gormleigh-on-Sea who is promoted to publicity officer. In an effort to drum up interest in the town he organises a film festival and invites a major French film star. The event is soon thrown into chaos by the machinations of jealous mayors from rival towns.

Film Fest Gent, spelt Film Fest Gent in Flemish and also known as International Film Fest Gent, is an annual international film festival in Ghent, Belgium. The festival held its first edition in 1974, under the name Internationaal Filmgebeuren Gent, and has since grown into the largest film festival in Belgium. The festival also puts the spotlight on film music; since 2001, Film Fest Ghent has hosted the World Soundtrack Awards, a series of prizes for the best soundtracks for film and television.

The Georges Delerue Award for Best Music, or Georges Delerue Prize / Prix Georges Delerue, is an award for the best film score. It is named after the French composer Georges Delerue, and was first awarded at the 1985 Film Fest Gent festival. Past winners include: Benny Andersson, Ry Cooder, Bruno Coulais, Jean-Luc Godard, Michael Kamen, Astor Piazzolla, Rachel Portman, Howard Shore, Toru Takemitsu, and Vangelis.

The Debussy Film: Impressions of the French Composer is a 1965 British television film about Claude Debussy. It was written by Melvyn Bragg and Ken Russell, with Russell directing.

Dance of the Seven Veils is a 1970 British television film about German composer Richard Strauss. The film, which was directed by Ken Russell, was only screened once by the BBC. After it was condemned for its gratuitous sex scenes and the depiction of the composer as a Nazi sympathiser, the Estate of Richard Strauss took out a legal injunction banning the use of the composer's music on the film's soundtrack. In February 2020, with the expiration of the composer's copyright after more than 70 years since Strauss died, the film was shown at a special screening event in Cumbria, England hosted by Ken Russell's widow.

The Secret Life of Arnold Bax is a 1992 British TV movie directed by Ken Russell, who also stars in the title role as composer Arnold Bax. It was one of eight musical drama documentaries directed by Russell for The South Bank Show on London Weekend Television between 1983 and 2002. The film focuses on the composer's complicated relationship with pianist Harriet Cohen while at the same time seeking inspiration for his music from the dancer Annie. As with all of Russell's films on composers the drama serves as a showcase for the music. Set in 1948, when the film Oliver Twist had just been released, the film mostly uses earlier compositions such as The Garden of Fand, Tintagel and the Symphony No 2 as its soundtrack. Lewis Foreman was musical adviser.

References

  1. KEN RUSSELL: MUSICAL MYTHMAKER Adams, Michael. Music Library Association. Notes; Philadelphia Vol. 66, Iss. 1, (Sep 2009): 143-163.