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| Michael Kamen leaves behind scores of compositions |
| (MR) Since I was about eight years old, I've drempt of working with what I had considered the ultimate film crew on a project I've been steadily working on since my early youth. Joel Silver would produce. Luc Besson would direct. Stan Winston would design all of the props and special effects. And Michael Kamen would compose and orchestrate the music from top to bottom. Michael Kamen left us on November 18th,2003 of an apparent heart |
| attack. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, his father, and three brothers. In the vaults of his legacy you will find scores of musical compositions and young aspiring musicians influenced by his rock-fused symphonic perfection, music that has captivated moviegoing audiences for decades and has altered the way we issue and listen to popular music. It was his theme music to the film Die Hard, my all- time favourite film, that inspired me to attempt scoring the symphonics for Project Mongoose myself. But after I toiled over a synthesizer for three months, I quit and told myself (and the very few people who've had a glimpse at the project) "screw it, I'll have Michael Kamen do this... he'd do it better than me anyway." But now the dream is over... and my lifelong project will be indefinitely thwarted as one of my idols, inspirations... one of my heroes has passed on. Born April 15th, 1948 in New York City, Michael Kamen was a musical protege practically from birth. He attended New York's High School of Music and Art, and later went on to Juliard, where during his stint with a rock- classical fusion band he was introduced to Leonard Bernstein, who introduced him to symphonic arranging and composing. In 1976 he worked on his first Hollywood film score for the film The Next Man, and in 1979 he arranged and otherwise collaborated on Pink Floyd's monumental album The Wall. Since then, Kamen has scored the soundtracks to over seventy television programs and films, including the Die Hard, Highlander, and Lethal Weapon series, as well as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Mr Holland's Opus, Edge of Darkness, Brazil, X-Men, and the Iron Giant. His television works include Band of Brothers, From the Earth to the Moon, and a score of others. He scored the music for the closing ceremony of the 1996 Olympics. And in lieu of pop- music recording, Michael Kamen has worked with the likes of David Bowie, Sting, Eric Clapton, Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, David Sanborn, and Herbie Hancock, just to name a few. He is probably best known to fans of pop and/ or rock music for his work with Metallica on their album S&M. Michael Kamen is, by all means, my favourite composer of all time. This small memorial on this small website is all I can really do to help us remember him... help that is truly unneeded, since his mark has been left in the annuls of the history of entertainment in some of the most astounding, explosive, expressive, and classic works of all time. But if any lesson should be learned that Kamen would ask us to heed is in how he lived his life. In the words of Alan Rickman in a letter he sent to michaelkamen.com: "Making music. Making food. Making friends. Sometimes all at once... We need the Michael's like we need air and water. It's hard to trap them in words on a page. They don't make judgements, are never cynical - They are a force. They surround us, enfold us and make a haphazard, sensual sense of the world. Our panic, their calm. Our collisions, their lightness. All spirit - like a breeze.. small wonder his work touched millions." And so passes a legend in our time, a man who left as many marks in entertainment as he has in volumes of history books. One day, Project Mongoose will be close to completion, close enough where the question will arise: Who will compose the music for such an engrossing entertainment project? I'm sure the answer will be found in studying Michael Kamen's music and hoping he will send us a guiding light. Thank you Michael for your inspiration, your works, and your incredible life down here amongst us silly mortals. You were truly a diety, the Royal House of Music was your temple, and all the scores you composed for us are your testement. |
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