Franz Waxman

From Grokipedia

Franz Waxman (December 24, 1906 – February 24, 1967) was a German-born American composer and conductor best known for his orchestral film scores in Hollywood. Born in Königshütte, Upper Silesia (now Chorzów, Poland), Waxman, of Jewish descent, began his career in German cinema before emigrating to the United States in 1934 amid the rise of the Nazis. He composed music for over 140 films, including notable scores for Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Rebecca (1940), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and Rear Window (1954), blending romantic orchestration with innovative leitmotifs and classical influences. Waxman received twelve Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score, winning twice in consecutive years for Sunset Boulevard (1950) and A Place in the Sun (1951), marking him as the first composer to achieve this distinction. In addition to film work, he maintained a parallel career in concert music, founding the Los Angeles Music Festival in 1947 to promote symphonic performances and premieres of contemporary compositions.

In brief

Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906 – February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include Bride of Frankenstein, Rebecca, Sunset Boulevard, A Place in the Sun, Stalag 17, Rear Window, Peyton Place, The Nun's Story, and Taras Bulba. He received twelve Academy Award nominations, and won two Oscars in consecutive years (for Sunset Boulevard and A Place in the Sun).

He also received a Golden Globe Award for the former film. Bernard Herrmann said that the score for Taras Bulba was "the score of a lifetime." He also composed concert works, including the oratorio Joshua (1959), and The Song of Terezín (1964–65), a work for orchestra, chorus, and children's chorus based upon poetry written by children in the Theresienstadt concentration camp during World War II. Waxman also founded the Los Angeles Music Festival in 1947 with which he conducted a number of West Coast premieres by fellow film composers, and concert composers alike.