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ScoreKeeper Says Goodbye To Erich Kunzel
ScoreKeeper here paying tribute to a mighty champion of film music who is no longer among us.
Most of you may not be familiar with the name Erich Kunzel. If you’re an avid collector of soundtracks you may know that Mr. Kunzel was a heavy force in the film music world. As conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, he devoted much of his life on the podium bringing the world of cinematic music to the masses through live performances and a mountain of recordings.
I was going to write up some words myself on Mr. Kunzel’s legacy until I received the following obituary written by John T. Stanhope. I thought it appropriate to let Mr. Stanhope take over from here.
It is with sorrow that we report the passing of Erich Kunzel at the age seventy-four. He was the celebrated conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra for well over thirty years, but on September 1, 2009 he was struck down by “cancer of the pancreas, liver and colon,” said Chris Pinelo, a spokesman for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, which encompasses the Pops. He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Brunhilde.
He was diagnosed in late April, yet as advanced as the illness was by the end of May he still led the National Symphony in a Memorial Day concert on the Capitol Building lawn in Washington, and did so again on July 4. Both were televised by the Public Broadcasting Service. It was exactly one month prior to his death that he made his final public appearance, on August 1, at which he conducted the second half of a Pops concert in Cincinnati.
Last year I wrote a light-hearted article of apology for not being able to attend a scheduled appearance he had in Denver, CO. He was conducting music from STAR TREK with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, which included themed appearances by TREK actors Robert Picardo and John de Lancie. The point was that I’d always wanted to see him live and he was a mere one hour away and I still couldn’t arrange to get away to see him. It seemed almost hypocritical because I’m always observing that we don’t get enough of the likes of him—or enough film music displayed—in the Colorado Springs/Denver area. Now I feel the regret of that missed concert more poignantly than ever and I am sorry for it.
Mr. Kunzel was born to German-American immigrant parents in New York City. He began arranging music at an early age while at Greenwich High School in Connecticut and also played the piano, string bass, and timpani. He graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in music (thought he started out as a chemistry major), then studied at Harvard and Brown universities. He conducted for the Santa Fe Opera early in his career and studied at the Pierre Monteux School. From 1960 to 1965, he conducted the Rhode Island Philharmonic. Then from 1965 to 1977, he served as resident conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. It was also in 1977 that he helped found the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and became its conductor. In addition to his duties associated with this he lead the 8 o'clock popular concert series and made jazz recordings with Dave Brubeck and Duke Ellington.
Under Maestro Kunzel's leadership the Pops became internationally known with half a dozen best-selling recordings a year and almost weekly subscription concerts. Once a major contender to succeed Arthur Fiedler at the Boston Pops, his popular recordings of classical music, Broadway musicals, and film scores topped worldwide crossover charts more than any other conductor or orchestra in the world.
Mr. Kunzel was on a continuous mission to make orchestral music more accessible to those who might not normally be drawn to what they considered long-hair music. Just as one example, at Halloween he and the Pops musicians would don costumes and pumpkins would explode onstage.
“He was able to take highbrow and in his inimitable way make it somehow lowbrow,” said his protégé, Steven Reineke, the associate conductor of the Cincinnati Pops, who was recently named music director of the New York Pops. “And I mean that in the best way possible.”
He conducted professionally for just over fifty years and in that time tucked approximately 85 high-quality albums under his belt and sold ten million recordings, many of them compilations of film music (film score buffs became huge fans of him because of this). And like John Williams with the Boston Pops, he enjoyed adoration from nearly all those who admire orchestral music. Over fifty-five of the eighty-five or so albums he made with the Cincinnati Pops have landed on Billboard’s top ten charts. He won several Grammy Awards, the Grand Prix Du Disque, and the Sony Tiffany Walkman Award for “visionary recording activities.” He even made historic trips to China and was presented with the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons by the United States Government.
Mr. Kunzel was a one of kind soul within his art form, but that soul managed to connect to people all around the world. He will be much missed.
For more information on Erich Kunzel and his work, visit http://www.erichkunzel.com.
Thank you John for your heartfelt words. On behalf of Ain’t It Cool News I’d like to extend our condolences to the Kunzel family. He will certainly be missed.
ScoreKeeper
It is with sorrow that we report the passing of Erich Kunzel at the age seventy-four. He was the celebrated conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra for well over thirty years, but on September 1, 2009 he was struck down by “cancer of the pancreas, liver and colon,” said Chris Pinelo, a spokesman for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, which encompasses the Pops. He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Brunhilde.
He was diagnosed in late April, yet as advanced as the illness was by the end of May he still led the National Symphony in a Memorial Day concert on the Capitol Building lawn in Washington, and did so again on July 4. Both were televised by the Public Broadcasting Service. It was exactly one month prior to his death that he made his final public appearance, on August 1, at which he conducted the second half of a Pops concert in Cincinnati.
Last year I wrote a light-hearted article of apology for not being able to attend a scheduled appearance he had in Denver, CO. He was conducting music from STAR TREK with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, which included themed appearances by TREK actors Robert Picardo and John de Lancie. The point was that I’d always wanted to see him live and he was a mere one hour away and I still couldn’t arrange to get away to see him. It seemed almost hypocritical because I’m always observing that we don’t get enough of the likes of him—or enough film music displayed—in the Colorado Springs/Denver area. Now I feel the regret of that missed concert more poignantly than ever and I am sorry for it.
Mr. Kunzel was born to German-American immigrant parents in New York City. He began arranging music at an early age while at Greenwich High School in Connecticut and also played the piano, string bass, and timpani. He graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in music (thought he started out as a chemistry major), then studied at Harvard and Brown universities. He conducted for the Santa Fe Opera early in his career and studied at the Pierre Monteux School. From 1960 to 1965, he conducted the Rhode Island Philharmonic. Then from 1965 to 1977, he served as resident conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. It was also in 1977 that he helped found the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and became its conductor. In addition to his duties associated with this he lead the 8 o'clock popular concert series and made jazz recordings with Dave Brubeck and Duke Ellington.
Under Maestro Kunzel's leadership the Pops became internationally known with half a dozen best-selling recordings a year and almost weekly subscription concerts. Once a major contender to succeed Arthur Fiedler at the Boston Pops, his popular recordings of classical music, Broadway musicals, and film scores topped worldwide crossover charts more than any other conductor or orchestra in the world.
Mr. Kunzel was on a continuous mission to make orchestral music more accessible to those who might not normally be drawn to what they considered long-hair music. Just as one example, at Halloween he and the Pops musicians would don costumes and pumpkins would explode onstage.
“He was able to take highbrow and in his inimitable way make it somehow lowbrow,” said his protégé, Steven Reineke, the associate conductor of the Cincinnati Pops, who was recently named music director of the New York Pops. “And I mean that in the best way possible.”
He conducted professionally for just over fifty years and in that time tucked approximately 85 high-quality albums under his belt and sold ten million recordings, many of them compilations of film music (film score buffs became huge fans of him because of this). And like John Williams with the Boston Pops, he enjoyed adoration from nearly all those who admire orchestral music. Over fifty-five of the eighty-five or so albums he made with the Cincinnati Pops have landed on Billboard’s top ten charts. He won several Grammy Awards, the Grand Prix Du Disque, and the Sony Tiffany Walkman Award for “visionary recording activities.” He even made historic trips to China and was presented with the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons by the United States Government.
Mr. Kunzel was a one of kind soul within his art form, but that soul managed to connect to people all around the world. He will be much missed.
For more information on Erich Kunzel and his work, visit http://www.erichkunzel.com.
ScoreKeeper
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Mr. Kunzel was a huge film supporter. You could count on the Pops covering great film soundtracks on a yearly basis. I still remember him using a remote control R2D2 on stage during the Star Wars concert and getting slightly frustrated with it. Great memories. He will be missed.
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The maestro recorded sci-fi themed collections for the Telarc label called "time warp". It's an essential cd of beautifully performed music with extended dynamics. His versions of battlestar galactica, star trek TMP and superman (among others) will raise the hair on the back of your arms with majestic power. Thank you for a lifetime of unforgettable music. Rest in peace Maestro.
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Thanks for the music, Maestro. Rest in peace.
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I grew up on Kunzel. I remember some of the first compact discs my father bought for our $1500 stereo system (man, I'm dating myself) were his compilations of sci-fi themes. I can vividly recall being blown away by the Proto intro to the Star Tracks CD! Often his orchestrations were the versions I most thought of when I would think about my favorite film themes. This is a huge loss. He will be greatly missed.
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cancer of the liver colon and pancreas...just sad.
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Time warp was recorded on cd with almost no dynamic compression. It has massive dynamic range and deep, floor shaking bass. This cd made my upgrade my stereo in the 80's to a system that could handle this music! When you play the opening to battlestar galactica the low bass impact will rattle your house provided your system can handle it. It was the first cd that I ever brought home that was a truly jaw-dropping experience. This music *cannot* be fully appreciated in mp3 format, nor can it be appreciated on ear buds or cheap headphones. It is a masterpiece that asks a lot of speakers or headphones to reproduce it.
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Several years ago- he put on a magnificent show. And I have a handful of CDs by him and the Cincinnati Orchestra. I'm sad to hear of his passing, he had a great gig and I hope it brought him as much joy as it did his audience.
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Sep 04, 2009 12:33:50 PM CDT
spidercoz- YES! Symphonic Star Trek is a great collection
by yackbacker
Probably the best rendition of the DS9 theme too. That's a must-have for any Trek fan.
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His Cds were a great way to have an immediate "favorites" playlist of the all-time best music scores.
And unlike many of the Silva Screen recordings (some of which are just plain atrocious) Kunzel's orchestrations and tempos
were always right on the money, pitch perfect.
Brilliant conductor and champion of film music...I think I speak for a lot of symphonic-score fans in that we're going to miss him terribly. -
When I was a freshman in college in 1999, our choir recorded a Christmas cd with Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops (oddly it wasn't released until 2006, called
Christmastime Is Here / Kunzel, Erich & Cincinnati Pops). He was a bit weird, but very professional at the same time, and fun to work with. Last year, Walmart licensed one of the tracks from the cd for a holiday commercial, and I received a big old residual check as a result :) -
Sep 04, 2009 1:24:11 PM CDT
He directed a Star Wars performance of the Cincinnati Pops a few
by ironhelix
it was pretty fucking awesome. I had forgotten how powerful symphony music is when it's live.
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I'm a big fan and often enjoyed Kunzel's soaring versions better than the orignals. I interviewed the guy once for a paper I worked at. He was the most difficult interview I ever had, answering some of my questions with "it's in the presskit." I'm thinking, I'd like to have it in your own words for our readers. So, I was rather shocked when I heard from the PR firm that he loved the finished story. He didn't make it easy, but I was glad he liked it.
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I only know of Erich Kunzel from searching for music in a store. I'd be looking for Star Wars music, and right next to the official score, conducted by John Williams and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, I'd see a bunch of movie compilation CDs by some guy conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. I thought to myself, "Why would I want some other conductor doing music for a movie when I could have the original?" That said, I never bought a single Erich Kunzel CD. When I want to hear a piece from a movie I love, I want the music as it was performed for the screen, as it was composed for the screen, and as it was conducted for the screen. I was never interested in anyone's interpretation of film scores. It is sad that he's gone, but he did not impact my love of music at all.
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All through time conductors have added zest to original scores via interpretations. I found lots of performances of Bach lackluster until Jacqueline Du Pre tackled the masterpieces and pushed them into the stratosphere. Same goes for many classical pieces when put in the hands of Furtwangler. He simply extracted more energy and dynamic range/joi de vivre from every score. Sure, John Williams scored masterpieces as is, but the main these from Superman, for example under Kunzel gave the theme more low end, and more impact. His alternate take in no way diminishes the original, rather he exalts the strengths to a harder-hitting, and more vivid arrangement.
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Will be missed, RIP good sir.
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I missed this... Man I have so many of his CDs, he did so many great compilations of awesome movie scores. Very sad to see him go. Vaya Con Dios, amigo.
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Wow, thanks for filling us all in on your lack of interest in Kunzel, way to rain on the parade. He did COMPILATIONS and as people have said, the performances were often better than the original, especially with Telarc, they sounded WAY better technically and audibly.
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When I was selling stereos back in the 90's, we often used Kunzel's recordings as demos. I was always particularly fond of his take on the theme to the Magnificent Seven (track #2 on "Round Up", if memory serves). The recordings had great dynamic range and nearly no compression, and customers were more receptive to listening to a movie theme than an obscure classical piece. Because of his recordings' excellent range and deep bass, we took to calling him "Boom-Boom" Kunzel. It was some of the only demo music that I actually went out and purchased to include in my own library. I will miss discovering new recordings from him.
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Especially during the early years of the CD. Star Tracks I and II, Fantastic Journey, Round-Up, Beethoven or Bust Bach Busters (the latter 2 not by Kunzel) sold me on the format, and introduced me to a musical form (Orchestral pieces) for which I woefully lacked appreciation.
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His telarc cd's were indeed the cause of many cheaper speakers (and amps) to bottom out. Even at a *moderate* volume (for example) a carver M1.5t amp bottomed out (clipped) driving bose 901's. There was too much dynamic range to handle, where the original soundtracks were not a problem. His cd's definitely separated the goods from the toys. I later heard the cd on some large B&W speakers powered by a Krell amp, which allowed me to hear what was there at realistic levels. People with weak-kneed gear always whined that the dynamics were "overhyped" but those of us with competent rigs preferred Kunzel.
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Of course, I know who Eric Kunzel is! His works represent a good bit of my CD collection from Telarc. We were often treated to the first listen of his upcoming CDs by WGUC-FM, Cincinnati's Classical Music/NPR station. I grew up in the greater Cincinnati area, and his concerts and CD releases were always eagerly awaited! His demise is a huge loss for all of us who LOVE big music, and the best in his own special twist on the movie soundtracks we know and love. He will be sorely missed.
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Two of my favorite CD compilation albums. R.I.P., Mr. Kunzel. You've earned a break.
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To Flatulence: I'm not raining on any parade. Shockingly, I actually have a point of view on Kunzel. It's not disrespectful, but it's not gushing, either. I am not critiquing his worth to the music world or his expertise as a conductor. However, to say that some of Kunzel's music sounds better "technically and audibly" is quite subjective to your sound system and your personal likes and dislikes. My feeling is that a "technically, better-sounding" VERSION of someone else's film score is still NOT the original, which automatically makes it less interesting "TO ME." If others find interest in that, that's awesome. Seriously. I love the freedom to like whatever we want. / To damn_dirty_ape: My view is not narrow-minded if I like ORIGINAL film music. Kunzel never composed film scores. So, I was never interested in his (or anyone else's) "interpretations" of film scores. Kunzel was a very prolific conductor and has many compilations to his name, but if I bought his "Fantastic Journey" CD for "End Title from The Black Hole" or for "End Title from Twilight Zone: The Movie," I would STILL not be buying the original music as heard in the respective films, so I would not feel entirely satisfied with such a purchase. It is a compromise I prefer not to make. If you enjoy Kunzel's work, though, I think that's wonderful. More power to ya. Personally, if I listened to any of Kunzel's work, it would have to be his non-film work, like his Gershwin series, his Aaron Copland compilations, or "Ein Straussfest."
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