Kenyon Hopkins

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Kenyon Hopkins (born January 15, 1912 in Coffeyville , Kansas , † April 7, 1983 in Princeton , New Jersey ) was an American composer , arranger and conductor with a focus on jazz, classical music and film music. He created some important musical works, including for US cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. These include compositions for films such as Baby Doll - Don't Desire Other's Wife , The Twelve Jurors or Sharks of the City .

life and work

Born in rural Coffeyville , Kansas , Hopkins was the son of a clergyman. He grew up in Michigan and studied music theory and composition at Oberlin College and Temple University . After graduating in 1933, Kenyon Hopkins moved to New York City . There he attended the Contemporary School of Music and worked for several years with various orchestras , including the band leader Paul Whiteman and well-known instrumental greats such as André Kostelanetz . During this time in New York, a number of classical concert works by Hopkins were created, including two symphonies and several contemporary chamber music pieces, modern classical works for the concert hall.

His subsequent musical career in radio and theater was only interrupted during World War II by a three-year military service that he served with the Coast Guard . He then returned as arranger and composer for band leader Raymond Paige . From 1951 to 1961, Hopkins worked as the musical director for Radio City Music Hall . From 1963 to 1964 also for a one-year interlude as music director for the CBS radio network.

His career as a film composer began in 1956 when director Elia Kazan hired him for the Tennessee Williams film Baby Doll - Desire not the other woman with Karl Malden , Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach .

In 1957, the director Sidney Lumet engaged him for his award-winning masterpiece The Twelve Jurors with Henry Fonda in the lead role. Kenyon Hopkins was only allowed to compose 2 pieces for the film, but strategically at the beginning and at the end of the film with the pieces Boy's Theme and Rose Bud they enclosed the film like a strong emotional bracket and contributed a lot to the effect and atmosphere of the film. In the same year he composed the music for Jack Garfein's drama Die like a man with Ben Gazzara .

In 1959 he worked again with Sidney Lumet. This time in the Tennessee Williams filming The Man in the Snakeskin , where Marlon Brando played the role of Valentine 'Snakeskin' Xavier. In 1960 he composed the music for Elia Kazan's drama Wilder Strom with Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick .

1961 followed the Philip Dunne film Song of the Rebel with the rock 'n' roll star Elvis Presley in the lead role. In the same year he created the jazz composition for Robert Rossens drama Haie der Großstadt around the pool billiards player Eddie Felson, which unites the actor Paul Newman with another embodiment of the character in 1986 in the sequel The Color of Money by director Martin Scorsese in 1987 Oscar for Best Actor.

In addition, in the 1960s he wrote the dramatic film scores for Buzz Kulik's Password: Canary , for Robert Rossen's Lilith , for Delbert Mann's Face Without a Name, or Sydney Pollack's This Girl Is For Everyone . After that, scores for comedies such as Peter Tewksbury’s Doctor were also created - you’re kidding! and James Neilson's Who Wears Rosie's Pajamas? or the crime film The Fastest Path to the Beyond by David Lowell Rich with Kirk Douglas . In 1969, Hopkins returned to his proven roots of serious subject matter with the music for his last film Schußfahrt, a suspenseful action drama by director Michael Ritchie with Robert Redford in the lead role.

In the 1970s there were several compositions for television films and television series or episodes for television documentary series such as Secrets of the Sea by director and diver Jacques Cousteau .

Hopkins' almost 50-year career has alternated between cinema, radio and theater. In addition to the film music, numerous instrumental albums were created in the USA during the 1950s and 1960s , with modern classical compositions for the concert hall through to recordings in the field of jazz and space age pop , including for the record companies Capitol Records , ABC-Paramount , and later for Verve Records . Additionally, Hopkins is remembered for his work as music director for popular television series such as Men’s Economy in the 1970s. In 1979 he wrote his last music for the ABC Afterschool Specials .

Kenyon Hopkins died on April 7, 1983 at the age of 71 in Princeton.

Discography

movie theater

watch TV

  • 1964: East Side / West Side (TV series)
  • 1964: The Reporter (TV series) (13th episodes)
  • 1964: Hawk (TV series)
  • 1967: The Borgia Stick (TV movie)
  • 1968: The Secret of Michelangelo (TV movie)
  • 1970: The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau (TV documentary series)
  • 1970: Männerwirtschaft (The Odd Couple) (TV series)
  • 1972: The New Healers (TV movie)
  • 1973: The World Turned Upside Down (television documentary)
  • 1974: Lincoln: Trial by Fire (TV documentary series) (27th episodes)
  • 1979: ABC Afterschool Specials (TV series)

Kenyon Hopkins with the Creed Taylor Orchestra

  • 1958: Shock (ABC-Paramount)
  • 1959: Once around the Clock with Patricia Scot (ABC-Paramount)
  • 1959: Lonelyville, the nervous beat (ABC-Paramount)
  • 1959: The Sound Of New York (ABC-Paramount)
  • 1959: Panic, the Son of Shock (ABC-Paramount)
  • 1960: Ping Pang Pong the Swinging Ball (ABC Paramount)

Jazz and other compositions

  • 1957: Eleven against the Ice (RCA Records)
  • 1959: Ridin 'the Rails (Capitol Records)
  • 1959: Rooms (Righteous Records)
  • 1961: Sound Tour: France (Verve Records)
  • 1962: Sound Tour: Spain (Verve Records)
  • 1962: Sound Tour: Hawaii (Verve Records)
  • 1962: Sound Tour: Italy (Verve Records)
  • 1962: Nightmare !! (MGM Records)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biographical data from Kenyon Hopkins in: Listening to movies: the film lover's guide to film music , by Fred Karlin, Schirmer Books, 1994, p. 279
  2. ↑ Biographical data of Kenyon Hopkins in: The Invisible Art of Film Music: A Comprehensive History , by Laurence E. MacDonald, 1998, p. 141
  3. ↑ Kenyon Hopkins discography 12 Angry Men in: dougpayne
personal data
SURNAME Hopkins, Kenyon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American composer, arranger and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Coffeyville , Kansas
DATE OF DEATH April 7, 1983
Place of death Princeton , New Jersey