Don Banks

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donald Oscar Banks (born October 25, 1923 in Melbourne , Australia , † September 5, 1980 in McMahons Point, Sydney , Australia) was an Australian composer and film composer .

Live and act

Donald "Don" Banks, son of a jazz musician and band leader, received piano and theoretical music lessons at the age of five. In the vicinity of his father, the boy learned to use a number of musical instruments at an early age. Through this early formation, the very young Don Banks began to get enthusiastic about jazz music. Don Banks soon earned his living as a jazz pianist and trombonist in bands like Roger and Graeme Bell, where he also acquired important skills as an arranger and orchestra player. Banks acquired his theoretical knowledge while studying music at the University of his hometown Melbourne, where Waldemar Seidel became his piano teacher. After his military service from 1941 to 1946, Banks continued his studies (including counterpoint and composition) before moving to London in 1950, where Mátyás Seiber became another teacher for two years. In 1952, Banks founded the Australian Musical Association in London with Margaret Sutherland. In the same year he took part in a seminar at the American Studies Summer School in Salzburg, where he continued his education with Milton Babbitt . In Florence, on the other hand, Luigi Dallapiccola was his patron. Banks' long training period finally ended in 1956 when he attended a composition seminar in Switzerland under the direction of Luigi Nono .

It was through Mátyás Seiber that Don Banks made his first contact with the (British) film industry, where he was initially given musical accompaniment to animated films. From 1959 orders for full-length B-feature films were added. Banks' name in film is associated with compositions for a number of horror films, most of which were produced by the Hammer Films company, particularly in the 1960s . His scores for classics of this genre made him known, such as Frankenstein's monster , The horror at Witley Castle , The black reptile , The torture garden of Dr. Diabolo and The Curse of the Mummy .

In 1969, Banks finished his work for the cinema and from then on devoted himself to other musical styles. He began composing in the style of the Third Stream ; a style of music that combines European New Music with American-style modern jazz. Bank also experimented with electronic music. Don Banks returned to Australia in 1972 and served as Head of Composition and Electronic Music Studies at the Canberra School of Music for the next five years. In 1978, Banks was engaged as head of the School of Composition Studies at the New South Wales Conservatory. His best-known compositions of classical music include “Sonata da Camera” for flute, clarinet, bass, piano, percussion, violin, viola and cello (1961), a horn concerto (1965) and a trio for horn, violin and piano (1962 ) and a violin concert (1968). In 1972, Banks developed cancer, from which he died eight years later. In his honor, the Don Banks Music Award was launched in 1984, with which extraordinary music artists in Australia are to be honored.

Filmography

literature

  • Randall D. Larson: Music in the Hammer Horror Films, 1950-1980. Scarecrow Press, pp. 51-57
  • Jürgen Wölfer, Roland Löper: The great lexicon of film composers, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2003, p. 34

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Banks, Don
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Banks, Donald Oscar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian composer and film composer
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Melbourne , Australia
DATE OF DEATH 5th September 1980
Place of death McMahons Point, Sydney , Australia