Franz Waxman’s Rebecca: A Film Score Guide will be of interest to musicologists and film scholars, as well as fans of Alfred Hitchcock and Franz Waxman. David Neumeyer and Nathan Platte situate the score for this classic work within the context of the composer’s life and career. Available on Amazon.
Category Archives: News Item
Franz Waxman: Music for the Cinema
December 16, 2006 – January 17, 2007: Musuem of Modern Art (MoMA) honors renowned film score composer Franz Waxman with a 21-title retrospective on the centenary of his birth. Click here to view the PDF schedule of events.
Waxman Plaque Unveiled
On November 16, 2006, the city of Chorzow, Poland dedicated their movie theatre to Franz Waxman in honor of his 100th birthday.
100 at the Academy
On October 19, 2006, The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences hosted A Franz Waxman Centennial Celebration in Los Angeles. It featured a panel discussion hosted by conductor John Mauceri that included Waxman’s son, John Waxman, and screenings of “Suspicion” and “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” two 1941 films for which the composer received Oscar nominations.
Song of Terezin for Two Pianos
The Song of Terezin by Franz Waxman 40th Anniversary Edition – published for 2 pianos, 2 percussion, mixed & children’s chorus is now available for performance. Contact Themes & Variations for more information.
Holocaust Rememberence Day
On January 27th, 2004, the Song of Terezin Oratorio was performed at the Prague State Opera commemorating the day when the Red Army freed the Auschwitz concentration camp. in attendance were former concentration camp prisoners as well as The Presidents of the Czech Republic and Austria, Václav Klaus and Thomas Klestil. Radio Prague News Report (in English).
Song of Terezin – Mauthausen
The Oratorio originated from poems written by children living in Terezín ghetto, later set to music by Franz Waxman in the USA, who himself escaped from the Nazi Germany into the States to become one of the most significant film music composers. This performance was organized and sponsored by Austrian Cultural Forum and was one of 5 in this series.
Sunset Blvd. Live
On August 6, 2006, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra made film-music history Sunday night, Aug. 6, by performing what is believed to be the first-ever live concert of a complete orchestral film score while actors read the script before an audience. The occasion at the Bowl marked the centenary of the birth of both director Billy Wilder (1906-2002) and composer Franz Waxman (1906-1967). Read more details at The Film Music Society.
TARAS BULBA – Recording Session
Watch the recording of Taras Bulba – by Franz Waxman – performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra from January 2011.
AFI Greatest film scores
On September 23, 2005, at the Hollywood Bowl, the American Film Institute announced their list of 100 Years of Film Scores, eleven of which were by Franz Waxman: The Bride Of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, The Nun’s Story, Peyton Place, The Philadelphia Story, A Place In The Sun, Rebecca, Sayonara, The Spirit Of St. Louis, Sunset Boulevard, and Taras Bulba. Complete list at AFI.