[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 103 (Thursday, July 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1507-E1508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TRIBUTE TO FILM AND TELEVISION COMPOSER JERRY GOLDSMITH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2004

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to note the passing 
of one of this nation's great cinematic artists, composer Jerry 
Goldsmith. Mr. Goldsmith died on July 21, 2004 at the age of 75. He 
leaves behind a distinguished repertoire of outstanding and memorable 
film scores and television themes that are as recognizable as they are 
innovative.
  Scoring movies and television programs is a vastly underappreciated 
art form. Too often this music is considered as just another part of 
things that are popular but are only entertainment, not art. However, 
his scores, like the work of his colleague film and television 
composers, are essentially classical music pieces. As such, they should 
not be dismissed simply because they happen to be associated with films 
and television shows, which in fact are valid art forms.
  As anyone in the entertainment industry can attest, music is an 
essential and integral part of the final artistic product. It sets 
appropriate moods and tones and can help make action scenes more 
thrilling and tense as well as stir the emotions in more quiet 
interludes. Mr. Goldsmith was a master at the full range of his craft 
often creating path-breaking and innovative scores.
  The sound of his echoing trumpets for the soundtrack of the movie 
``Patton'' has so permeated the culture that this music is now 
synonymous with military leaders. His spooky and menacing chants for 
the film ``The Omen,'' for which he won the Academy Award, is now 
standard for horror films. And his experimental use of electronics, 
woodwinds and percussion helped create the sense of ``other 
worldliness'' in the film ``Planet of the Apes.'' The fact that these 
musical themes and many others of his are so widely recognized and 
copied not only acknowledges his versatility and genius, but also 
underscores the legitimacy of the scoring craft.
  Jerry Goldsmith was born Jerrald Goldsmith on February 10th 1929 in 
Los Angeles, California. At the beginning of the 1940s, he took piano 
lessons from Jakob Gimpel and Mario Castelnuevo-Tedesco. While 
attending the University of California, he took classes with Mikols 
Rozsa, the famed composer of such films as ``Ben-Hur,'' ``Ivanhoe,'' 
``El Cid'' and ``Spellbound.''
  Mr. Goldsmith started his career at CBS television in the early 1950s 
as a clerk typist and eventually got assignments composing music for 
radio plays, and later for television broadcasts. He eventually wrote 
music for such famous television shows such as ``The Twilight Zone,'' 
``Dr. Kildare,'' ``The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,'' ``The Waltons,'' 
``Barnaby Jones,'' ``Star Trek: Voyager'' and ``Star Trek: The Next 
Generation.''
  Mr. Goldsmith's first motion picture score was in 1957 for a long 
forgotten B-western

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named ``Black Patch.'' However, his first major recognition as a film 
composer did not occur until 1962 for his score of the Kirk Douglas 
film ``Lonely Are the Brave.'' That same year, he got his first Academy 
Award nomination for the film ``Freud.''
  Throughout his career, he became associated with distinguished 
directors such as the late Franklin J. Schaffner who, with Mr. 
Goldsmith scoring, made ``Planet Of The Apes,'' ``Patton,'' 
``Papillon,'' ``The Boys From Brazil,'' and ``Lionheart.'' He also 
worked on a number of Paul Verhoeven films including ``Total Recall,'' 
`Basic Instinct,'' and ``Hollow Man.'' He wrote the scores for director 
Fred Schepisi films ``The Russia House,' ``Mr. Baseball,'' ``Six 
Degrees Of Separation,'' and ``I.Q.'' And director Joe Dante gave Mr. 
Goldsmith the opportunity to show his talents for films like ``Twilight 
Zone: The Movie,'' ``Gremlins I and II,'' ``Innerspace,'' 
``Explorers,'' ``The 'burbs,'' ``Matinee,'' and ``Small Soldiers.''
  Mr. Goldsmith received 17 Academy Award nominations for his work 
starting in 1962 for ``Freud,'' and including his work on films such as 
``Chinatown,'' ``Hoosiers,'' ``Basic Instinct,'' ``LA Confidential,'' 
and finally for his score of the animated ``Mulan'' in 1998. He won 
four Emmy Awards for his television work and was nominated for five 
Grammy Awards.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering the life 
and work of Jerry Goldsmith. He was a national treasure. Although we 
will no longer get the opportunity to hear new scores from him, his 
musical legacy will live on in his recordings for generations.

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