Gregory Stone (composer)

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Gregory Morris Stone (born July 20, 1900 in Odessa , Cherson Governorate , Russian Empire , as Grigori Gagelstein; † June 11, 1991 in Málaga , Andalusia , Spain ) was a Russian - American pianist and composer who won an Oscar in 1939 was nominated.

biography

Grigori "Grisha" Gagelstein, son of Abady (Alexander) Gagelstein and Anna Ruth Nadel, was considered a brilliant pianist and composer. He made his first public appearance as a conductor in 1913 at the Odessa Conservatory for Music under the guidance and with the music of Witold Maliszewski and Pietro Cimini. Gagelstein fled to Romania after the Russian Revolution in 1918. There he accompanied the violinist Grigoraş Dinicu in his first job . His first wife Zoe Vinoceur, who was married from 1922 to 1945, came from Galatz in Romania. After Stone had received a visa for the United States in 1922, he entered the United States in 1923 from Constanța , Romania. There he lived in New York, where he was advised to Americanize his name. From 1923 to 1929 he worked as a composer, arranger and pianist for various radio programs, for the theater and for publishers, including for TB Harms Verlag, where he worked as an arranger for Broadway shows. From 1930 to 1933 he was chief arranger and pianist at RKO Pictures . This was followed by a job as a composer and arranger at Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures from 1934 to 1936.

He composed the music for the 1938 adventure film Her Jungle Love with Dorothy Lamour and Ray Milland , as well as for the literary film adaptation of Girls' School from 1938. For this work he was together with Morris Stoloff at the 1939 Academy Awards for an Oscar in the category “ Best Film Music “nominated. However, the trophy went to Alfred Newman and the musical film Alexander's Ragtime Band .

In 1939 he composed the music for Max Reinhardt's production of Faust in Los Angeles and San Francisco and also directed the orchestra. Reinhardt said at the time that the music was really beautiful and the choir sounded excellent. In 1945/1946 Stone worked as a conductor and solo pianist in Mexico City and conducted the General Electric Symphony Orchestra, among others. He also worked as a musical director in Argentina and as a concert pianist in Brazil and Colombia.

When he was on tour as a conductor with an ice skating entertainment show (Ice Capades), he met his future second wife Ingeborg Lubahn. The couple married in Venezuela in 1948. Together with her, he moved to Southern California, where he in turn composed and arranged film music for the major studios. Among other things, he was responsible for production music, but also composed scores. He created the music for the romantic adventure thriller The Treasure of Jivara with Fernando Lamas and Rhonda Fleming , published in 1954 . During this time he built up an impressive collection that formed the basis and played an important role in the creation of the symphony orchestra in Reno, Nevada, which he later founded. During his time in Southern California, he also developed many friendships with studio musicians, as many exceptional musicians lived and worked there. From 1957 to 1960 he taught at the Los Angeles Conservatory. In 1968 Stone then moved to Reno and founded the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra there, where he was conductor from 1969 to 1979.

After completing his Hollywood career, he said goodbye to Mijas in the Spanish region of Andalusia in the province of Málaga in 1983. In 1985 he joined the Knights Templar . He died in the city of Málaga in 1991 at the age of 90.

Publications, praise

In addition to his film work, Stone published numerous arrangements and original works for solo piano and various instruments, performed by leading soloists of the time. The catalog of his published pieces (solo, orchestra, choir) in the period 1923 to 1944 comprises more than 300. Among his 16 publications for violin and piano, his complete transcription of

He also composed the jazz standard Let's Dance with Josef Bonime , which was recorded in 1939 by Benny Goodman & His Orchestra , among others .

Pianist, composer and professor Percy Grainger said that what Stone finds in transcriptions is for him the key to the modern core of the pianist - a recognition of the soul and the nature of the instrument. The French violinist Zino Francescatti wrote to Stone about his wonderful concerto for piano and strings that he would never forget it and that he should orchestrate it as he thinks he would definitely be happy to support and promote it.

Filmography (selection)

Soundtrack, film composer, music department

  • 1929: Harry Horlick and His Famous A & P Gypsies (short film)
    (Composition Black Eyes )
  • 1933: All at Sea (short film; composer)
  • 1936: Hollywood Boulevard
  • 1936: Easy to Take
    (composition Rendezvous with You )
  • Along Came Love
  • 1936: The Jungle Princess (The Jungle Princess)
  • 1936: The Big Broadcast of 1937
  • 1937: Here's Your Hat (short film)
    (composition Brothers of Romany )
  • 1937: Champagne Waltz
  • 1937: Her Husband Lies
  • 1937: Assistant doctor Dr. Kilder (Internal Can't Take Money)
  • 1937: My life in luxury (Easy Living)
  • 1937: Souls at Sea (Souls at Sea)
  • 1938: Her Jungle Love
  • 1938: Girls' School
  • 1938: Ride a Crooked Mile
  • 1939: Blondie Brings Up Baby
  • 1939: Mysterious Traces (Silver on the Sage)
  • 1940: Her First Romance
  • 1940: Swing Romance (Second Chorus)
  • 1941: Give a Sucker an no chance (Never Give a Sucker to even break)
    (Arranger Ochi Tchornya (Dark Eyes) )
  • 1941: Doomed Caravan
  • 1941: The face behind the mask (The Face Behind the Mask)
  • 1941: The Devil Commands
  • 1942: The Adventures of Martin Eden
  • 1943: The Powers Girl
    (writer Let's Dance )
  • 1943: He's My Guy
    (Arranger Two Guitars )
  • 1943: The Boy from Stalingrad
    (Music Now We Are Free , Go to Sleep )
  • 1943: Heavenly Music
  • 1945: The Girl of the Limberlost
    (Music Magnolia March )
  • 1947: Carnegie Hall
    ( Sometime We Will Meet Again )
  • 1950: Bush devil in the jungle (Pygmy Islands)
  • 1951: The Red Falcon of Baghdad (The Magic Carpet)
  • 1952: Lady Rotkopf (The Golden Hawk)
  • 1953: Prisoners of the Casbah
  • 1954: The Jivaro Treasure (Jivaro)
  • 1956: Die Benny Goodman Story (The Benny Goodman Story)
    (Music Let's Dance )
  • 1957: The Guns of Fort Petticoat (The Guns of Fort Petticoat)
  • 1984: Maria Lovers
    (author Let's Dance )
  • 2002: The Salton Sea
    (author Let's Dance , title within the soundtrack)

Awards

Academy Awards 1939 :

  • nominated in the category "Best Adapted Film Music"
  • 1956: Recipient of the Arcari International Award for "Concerto Breve"
  • 1973: Appreciation Award, recognized by the City of Reno
  • 1978: Music Man of the Year in Nevada, Honored by the Teachers Association
  • 1979: Critic Award from the Founding Professional Symphony in Nevada
  • 1984: Picasso Award from the City of Málaga

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The 11th Academy Awards | 1939 sS oscars.org (English)
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Cristina Stone: Thats the Story: Words and music by Gregory Stone (Volumes I and II) ,
    The Ohio State University, 1992, sS etc.ohiolink.edu (English)
  3. ↑ a b Gregory Stone sS rawsonduo.com (English)
  4. ↑ Gregory Stone (1900–1991) sS urresearch.rochester.edu (English)
  5. ↑ Gregory Stone. In: Discogs . Retrieved February 3, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Stone, Gregory
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stone, Gregory Morris (full name); Gagelstein, Grigori (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian-American pianist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH 20th July 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Odessa , Kherson Governorate , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH June 11, 1991
Place of death Málaga , Andalusia , Spain