Film Composer Basil Poledouris Dead at 61

[Curt Chiarelli]

Guys:

It's with the greatest of sadness that I report to you that one of the great film composers has passed on. He was a powerful, fresh and original voice in American film music at a time when it was desperately needed, carrying on the tradition of the previous generation of film composers well into the 21st century.

I'll never forget as a teenager the first time I heard his scores for Conan the Barbarian and Flesh and Blood. The overwhelming power, majesty, tender lyricism and sheer brilliance of his work centerpunched me in the solar plexus and instantly converted me into a devout fan.

Aaron Copland once wrote that, "If it's in the music, it's in the man". Such was the case with Basil. On a more personal note, please read this touching tribute from Basil's former agent, Richard Kraft: http://www.soundtrack.net/news/article/?id=861

A little more than 2 years ago film music fans such as myself were hit by a quadruple whammy with the passing of not only the legendary Jerry Goldsmith, but also Elmer Bernstein, David Raksin and Fred Karlin within a month of each other. All save Raksin died of cancer.

Cancer has claimed yet another great man. I look forward to someday seeing this epidemic wiped off the face of the earth as decisively as Guinea worms and smallpox.

Rest in Peace Basil.




Composer Basil Poledouris Dead at 61

by Jon Burlingame


LOS ANGELES – Basil Poledouris, the Emmy-winning composer of Lonesome Dove and composer for such films as Conan the Barbarian, Free Willy and The Blue Lagoon, died of cancer Wednesday, Nov. 8, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 61.

Best-known for his powerful music for action-adventure films of the 1980s and '90s, Poledouris scored both of Arnold Schwarzenegger's appearances as the sword-and-sorcery hero in Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984).

His orchestral-and-choral scores are today considered high points in the genre of music for fantasy films. Poledouris conducted a substantial portion of the reconstructed Conan score at a concert in Ubeda, Spain, in July.

The first Conan movie was one of several films the composer scored for director John Milius. Others included Big Wednesday (1978), Red Dawn (1984), Farewell to the King (1989) and Flight of the Intruder (1991).

He also enjoyed long professional relationships with directors Randal Kleiser (The Blue Lagoon, 1980; Summer Lovers, 1982; White Fang, 1991; It's My Party, 1996), Paul Verhoeven (Flesh and Blood, 1985; Robocop, 1987; Starship Troopers, 1997); Simon Wincer (Quigley Down Under, 1990; Free Willy, 1993); and John Waters (Serial Mom, 1994; Cecil B. DeMented, 2000).

Among Poledouris' other popular scores were The Hunt for Red October (1990), Wind (1992), and Les Miserables (1998).

In stark contrast to his testosterone-driven big-screen thrillers was his music for two television miniseries: the gentle Americana of the controversial 14-hour Amerika (1987) and the folk-based Western score for the eight-hour Lonesome Dove (1989), which won the composer an Emmy.

Poledouris was born in Kansas City, Mo., Aug. 21, 1945. He began studying piano at the age of 9, became part of a folk group in high school and studied both film and music at USC. He scored a handful of television projects in the early 1970s, but his feature scores for Big Wednesday and The Blue Lagoon – both for former USC colleagues – catapulted him into larger-scale features.

In 1996, Poledouris was commissioned to write music for the opening of the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. His six-minute piece, The Tradition of the Games, drew on his study of ancient mythology and Greek philosophy and was performed by the Atlanta Symphony and a 300-voice choir.

In recent years, Poledouris – an avid surfer and sailor – moved to Vashon Island, Wash.

He is survived by his former wife Bobbie; two daughters, Zoe and Alexis; his mother and brother. A private family service is planned. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations in his name be made to the Catalina Conservancy or the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation.

[j. d. worthington]

Damn. That just about sums up my feelings on this one. Just ... damn.

But thank you for posting the news, Curt ... otherwise I'd probably not have got it for some time.

[steve12553]

The sounds of the world become a little less pleasant. Listened to the soundtrack from Conan the Barbarian many times. He made many films greater.

[Curt Chiarelli]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts J.D. and Steve. Many apologies for posting this thread later than expected, but I had to take a business trip down to Los Angeles at the time.

It's amazing. With lightning swiftness, the exhilarating high of the mid-term election results blackened and tail-spinned immediately into depression when I heard of his passing.

Yes, the heavens do ring a little more hollow now that Basil is no longer with us. And the truly sad part of it all was that about 6 years prior to his death, Basil - frustrated as he was by the second-guessing, incompetance, micro-managing and the decreasing quality of the projects offered him - quit the field that he had made such a resounding impact in during the last 25 years.

Our lives and our culture are all the more impoverished and bereft because of it. But we should feel very fortunate to had his like amongst our ranks for the time that he was with us. I know that I've been enobled by his music. Its scope, depth and tender humanity surpasses the puny, myopic collective sum of the media for which it was created, it boldly adventures forth enveloping the listener in a warm, brawny embrace and like the universe itself, it is self-contained for it contains everything within it.