MAX STEINER
BORN: May 10, 1888
DIED: Dec 29, 1971
When the tragic news of Max Steiner’s death reached this reporter, my initial reaction was one of deep sorrow. The feeling that I had lost an old and dear friend somehow stayed with me throughout that evening for, like all of us, I had grown up with Max Steiner.
I had heard his warm, unforgettable melodies played a thousand times and more. And now the man who created so much beauty, so much joy is gone. My head is filled with his music, and it’s a concert on a grand scale. I can hear the full, rich strains of “Gone With The Wind,” and Tara; the terrible coming of “King Kong”; the eloquent simplicity of “The Life Of Emile Zola”; the painful beauty of “Dark Victory” and “Now Voyager”; the thrilling “Charge Of The Light Brigade”; the wonderful suite from “The Big Sleep”; the exciting theme from “A Dispatch From Reuters”; and the breath-taking score of “The Most Dangerous Game.”
All these and so many more sing in my mind tonight. These are but a part of the precious legacy of a giant among artists, a man who truly could be called The Father Of Film Music.
Max Steiner has left us at last, but not alone. He has bequeathed us his music, and I assure you that no millionaire ever left as rich a legacy to his heirs.
Goodbye, Max.