Bernstein, Theme from The Magnificent Seven

No, it’s not Leonard. Nor was Elmer Bernstein (1922-2004) related to Leonard Bernstein. Elmer built his musical career in Hollywood. He and Leonard were sometimes referred to respectively as “Bernstein West” and “Bernstein East.”

Elmer Bernstein composed more than 150 film scores, some of them quite famous. But none matches the popularity of his score for the iconic 1960 Western, The Magnificent Seven. In reviewing his career, however, you would have to include landmark films like The Ten Commandments, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Escape, and some less serious fare such as Animal House and Ghostbusters.

Professor Carol has addressed film scores numerous times, most notably in the context of the best and brightest composers fleeing Europe as World War II approached (e.g. Max Steiner, Erich Korngold, Dimitri Tiomkin). These were composers who were the logical successors to people like Strauss and Mahler but instead plied their skill in the genre of film. They were applying the techniques pioneered by Liszt in his tone poems.

Bernstein was not an immigrant, but rather the son of Jewish immigrants from Austria-Hungary and Ukraine. He followed the traditions of the earlier film composers. Composition is in many respects a craft and used to be taught as such—before we elevated self-expression as the highest goal. Consider that a carpenter learns about tools and materials, hones his skills in working with them, and masters a long tradition of best practices. His artistic imagination may be turned loose later. Unless you first master the craft, there is little chance of applying imagination in any productive way.

It is no faint praise to label a composer a good craftsman. Bernstein obviously gained the confidence of numerous Hollywood producers over his long career and created scores in whatever styles the film demanded.