[78-L] Marvin Hamlisch dies

Tue Aug 7 14:19:14 PDT 2012

Phil,

I remember that happening also - it seemed to me at the time that people thought Hamlisch wrote "The Entertainer" and all the songs on the soundtrack and that he didn't do enough to dissuade this assumption. I considered him an opportunist, and when he polluted the 1970s airwaves with the putrid "The Way We Were," I developed a deep-seated hatred for him. (I, too, was idealistically immature at the time). Like Hamlisch, I mellowed in later years - he has contributed immensely not only to our music's history, but in retrospect, his using Joplin's music influenced a number of young pianist's love for ragtime, something which is being talked about now on "The Ragtimers Club" Facebook page. Many ragtime pianists today trace their love for ragtime to Hamlisch's score for "The Sting" as do I. Hamlisch proved that he was no pretender nor a usurper of others' music. Although it wasn't his idea to use Joplin rags in "The Sting" (director George Roy Hill came up with the idea), he did a splendid job of arranging the songs. The sequence in which a lonely Robert Redford walks the empty streets of Chicago while "Solace" plays on the soundtrack is still one of the most beautiful sequences in film history. Ya gotta give him credit for that.

Cary Ginell

> From: Philip_Carli at pittsford.monroe.edu
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2012 21:08:36 +0000
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Marvin Hamlisch dies
> 
> I was very angry at Hamlisch at the Academy Award ceremonies that year when he accepted his STING Oscar - not even one mention of Joplin's name the whole night, and I never forgave that; at the time he just seemed an arrogant guy who was lucky. I had a piano teacher then who in addition to my Chopin, Beethoven, and other standard lit was willing to work with me on the Joplin, Joseph F. Lamb, and James Scott I brought in excitedly. (This teacher also put me onto Gottschalk, a lifelong love.) Ignoring Joplin at the Oscars raised my immature indignation. After that I always referred to Hamlisch as "Ham-misch" and my mother playing the CHORUS LINE lp over and over on our Zenith console drove me crazy; when the family went to see the show in LA I deliberately opted out. I think he changed once things weren't so lucky and effortless for him; I'm sorry he passed at a time when I think he was contributing something beyond his compositions to musical life, had some personal perspe
> ctive that showed in his interviews, and it saddens me now that he's gone.
> ________________________________________
> From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com [78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com] on behalf of Cary Ginell [soundthink at live.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 1:33 PM
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Marvin Hamlisch dies
> 
> Remember that all bets are off when you are composing for a soundtrack. It's when 'source' music is anachronistic where I have a problem with it. Source music meaning the characters on the screen are hearing the music as well. Alex North's music for "Spartacus" is a perfect example. There are only a few instances, if that, where music is actually performed by the characters in the film. One is when Antoninus, played by Tony Curtis, sings a "song," which is actually spoken free verse, with no musical accompaniment, perfectly plausible for that period. Yes, the ragtime music in "The Sting" worked perfectly and I have no problem with it. I only question why instrument-specific music isn't used more in movies. Why must it always be a large symphony orchestra? Think about the use of the zither in "The Third Man," or a New Orleans jazz band for Woody Allen's "Sleeper"? Why can't filmmakers be more imaginative in use of music? George Roy Hill wanted a piano-centered score for "The S
> ting" and he was brilliant to think of it.
> 
> Cary Ginell
> 
> 
> > From: bowiebks at isomedia.com
> > To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> > Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2012 10:27:20 -0700
> > Subject: Re: [78-L] Marvin Hamlisch dies
> >
> > I like the idea that the film maker decides what music sounds right for the
> > situation, regardless of when in time the story might be set.
> >
> > The great stories are timeless and should not be restricted to music of the
> > period. I don't think there was a lot of music like Korngold back in the
> > days of Robin Hood, but that seems to work well in the movie, as does the
> > genteel rag stuff in The Sting.
> >
> >
> > Taylor
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Cary Ginell" <soundthink at live.com>
> > To: <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2012 9:41 AM
> > Subject: [78-L] Marvin Hamlisch dies
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > The interesting thing about "The Sting" for me was how off-base Hamlisch
> > > was, timewise, in selecting ragtime for that score. "The Sting" took place
> > > in the early 1930s, 20 years after ragtime's heyday ended. Nobody listened
> > > to ragtime then, ...
> > > but somehow, the charm of the music worked perfectly for that film, just
> > > as bluegrass worked for "Bonnie & Clyde." Bluegrass wouldn't be
> > > established for a decade after that. What is it about the 1930s that
> > > filmmakers couldn't get? Would those films have worked just as well if
> > > they had used music that was appropriate for the period?
> > >
> > > Cary Ginell
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
> >
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