The 110-year-old Titanic violin that miraculously survived the sinking ship

The violin that survived the Titanic belonged to bandmaster Wallace Hartley, who perished with the ship. Picture: Getty / Alamy

By Siena Linton, ClassicFM

 

This violin holds a lifetime of stories in the grain of its wood... 

Of all the instruments in the world, violins and other string instruments are often renowned for their longevity, with the centuries-old creations of Italian luthiers, Amati and Stradivari, holding hundreds of years’ worth of stories, and selling for millions of pounds today.

Few, however, can compete with that of the Titanic violin – the instrument played in April 1912, as the RMS Titanic sank into the North Atlantic Ocean after its fatal collision with an iceberg.

Today, the violin is held at the Titanic Museum in Tennessee, as part of their public display of artefacts and memorabilia from the ship.

But the story of how it got there is not quite so simple...

An inscription on the tailpiece of the violin, which helped to identify it as the instrument Maria Robinson gifted to her new fiancé Wallace Hartley as an engagement present, before he set sail on RMS Titanic. Picture: Getty

A wedding that never took place

The now-famous violin was crafted in Germany in 1910, and was gifted to Wallace Hartley of Colne, Lancashire, as an engagement present from his new fiancée Maria Robinson. An inscription on the instrument’s tailpiece read, ‘For Wallace, on the occasion of our engagement, from Maria’.

The sweethearts likely met in Leeds, where Hartley played as a musician in various institutions around the city. Having previously provided musical entertainment on the RMS Mauretania, Hartley was contacted shortly before the RMS Titanic departed from Southampton on its maiden voyage with a request that he become its bandleader.

After his initial reluctance at leaving his fiancée, Hartley agreed to join the transatlantic crossing, hoping to secure future work with some new contacts before returning for his June wedding.

Tragically, the wedding never took place. Four days into the crossing, the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic ocean, and sank on the 15 April 1912, taking more than 1,500 passengers and crew members with it – Hartley included.

The 1997 Titanic film, directed by James Cameron and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, immortalised the depiction of the ship’s musicians performing ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’ as the ship sank. Picture: Alamy

‘Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight’

In a depiction made famous by the 1997 film Titanic (see above), the eight musicians on board the ship continued to play amid the havoc, as women, children and first-class passengers were loaded hurriedly onto lifeboats.

At maximum capacity, the lifeboats barely had space for half the people on the ship, and as the wooden boats began to depart with seats still vacant, it soon became clear that many of those still on board the rapidly sinking cruise liner would not be saved.

As was his command, bandleader Wallace H. Hartley gathered his seven fellow musicians to play music in an attempt to calm the pandemonium and still people’s fears. Survivors of the ship report that the band played upbeat music, including ragtime and popular comic songs of the late 19th and early 20th century.

One of the popular myths surrounding the Titanic and its historic fate is that the band played the hymn ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’ in their final moments. Some accounts dispute this, claiming that the musicians were last heard playing Archibald Joyce’s waltz, ‘Dream of Autumn’, before abandoning their instruments.

A portrait of Wallace Hartley, bandmaster of the RMS Titanic who perished with the ship. Picture: Alamy

If the musicians were indeed playing music to the very end, it does seem likely that Hartley would have chosen the hymn as their swan song.

Hartley’s father, Albion, was the choirmaster at the Methodist chapel in the family’s hometown, and had introduced ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’ to the congregation.

Hartley had also told a former colleague on the Mauretania that, should he ever find himself aboard a sinking ship, the hymn would be one of two pieces he would play in his final moments – a chilling foreshadowing of events to come.

Only three of the musicians’ bodies were recovered from the wreckage, including Hartley’s. A detailed inventory documents the personal effects that were found with him, including a gold fountain pen and silver match box, both engraved with his initials, and a diamond solitaire ring.

The violin was discovered enclosed within a satchel, embossed with Wallace Hartley’s initials. It’s thought that the case could have played a role in preserving the violin against the icy salt water conditions of the Atlantic ocean. Picture: Getty

Rediscovered in an attic

Despite some reports to the contrary, there is no evidence that his violin was found strapped to his chest in its case. We do know, however, that it must have been recovered, along with a satchel embossed with Hartley’s initials, as a telegram transcript from Maria Robinson to the Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia reads, ‘I would be most grateful if you could convey my heartfelt thanks to all who have made possible the return of my late fiancé’s violin’.

When Robinson died in 1939, her sister gave the violin to the Bridlington Salvation Army, who passed it on to a violin teacher. The teacher passed it on further, and in 2004 it was rediscovered in an attic in the UK.

Sceptics initially refused to believe that this could be the real thing, assuming that the violin would have been so badly damaged by water that it simply could not have survived.

However, after nine years of evidence gathering and forensic analysis, including CT scans and a certification by the Gemological Association of Great Britain, it was confirmed that this was, in fact, the violin that Wallace Hartley had played aboard the RMS Titanic.

Forensic experts certified that the engraving on the metal tailpiece was “contemporary with those made in 1910”, and that the instrument’s “corrosion deposits were considered compatible with immersion in sea water”.

Wallace Hartley’s headstone at the Methodist church in Colne, Lancashire, where his father was choirmaster, features an inscription of the famous hymn and a violin carved out of stone. Picture: Alamy

Sold for nearly a million

On 19 October 2013, the violin was sold at auction by Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire for £900,000 (equivalent to over £1,000,000 in 2022), a record figure for Titanic memorabilia. The previous record was thought to have been £220,000 paid in 2011 for a plan of the ship that had been used to inform the inquiry into the ship’s sinking.

The violin is irreparably damaged and deemed unplayable, with two large cracks caused by water damage and only two remaining strings. Its current owners are unknown, but believed to be British.

As for Hartley, he was buried in his hometown of Colne in Lancashire, at a funeral service that was attended by over 20,000 people, and included the hymn that will forever be associated with him, ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’.

The headstone of his final resting place includes an inscription of the hymn’s opening notes, above a violin carved out of stone.

24 Amazing Facts About JS Bach

Published by Revelle Team on June 10, 2016

Baroque and Bach are two words that are very often linked together. Widely regarded as one of the definitive composers of the Baroque period, Johann Sebastian Bach’s works are still loved today as each new generation discovers his incredible gift.

However, many people are unaware that without some specific enthusiasm and recognition for this master’s classical works, Bach might have been relegated to obscurity. Only having been known as a skilled organist, musical mathematician, and that guy with the perfectly curled, white wig.

Fortunately however, his musical compositions were admired and appreciated by geniuses like of Mozart and Beethoven; and in 1829, nearly 60 years after his death, Felix Mendelssohn, carried Bach’s Passion According to St. Matthew out of oblivion and into the German concert hall for a significant historical event. Although it had been nearly a hundred years after this beautiful masterpiece had been composed, the concert ignited a flame of curiosity and re-evaluation of Bach’s work, resulting in a world-wide acknowledgement of his brilliance and importance to Baroque classical music.

Here are 24 additional facts and trivia about this famous composer:

Johann Sebastian Bach was born March 31, 1685 in Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany.

His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach was a 7th generation musician, and carried on the tradition by teaching him how to play the violin.

Bach lost both his parents when he was 10 years old. While living in Ohrdruf, Germany, his older brother Johann Christoph Bach taught him organ.

In 1700, he was granted a scholarship at St. Michael’s School in Luneburg for his fine voice.

During an inaugural recital on the new organ his talents earned him the job of organist in Arnstadt, in 1703, at New Church, where he provided music for the services at the church, as well as instruction in music to the local children.

Bach moved to Muhlhausen in 1707 to become the organist in the Church of St. Blaise.

Bach married his cousin, Maria Barbara Bach, and they had seven children. His sons Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel became composers and musicians like their father.

Bach’s next position was as court organist in Weimer, in 1708 for Duke Wilhelm Ernst. It was here he composed his very famous Toccata in D Minor.

Bach was given a diamond ring in 1714 from the Crown Prince Fredrick of Sweden who was amazed at his playing.

Having angered Duke Wilhelm for requesting release from his position on short notice and desiring to go work for Prince Leopold of Koethen, Bach was arrested and put in jail for several weeks in 1716.

Upon his release from jail, Bach became the conductor of the court orchestra, in which Prince Leopold played.

In 1719, Bach tried to arrange a meeting with another prolific composer of that era, George Frideric Handel. Despite being only 130 kilometers apart, the two never did meet.

Bach’s wife, Maria, died suddenly in 1720 while he was away with Prince Leopold. She was 35 years old. The fifth and final movement of the Partita in D Minor for solo violin, “Chaconne,” was written to commemorate her.

In 1721, Bach married Anna Magdalena Wülcken. They had thirteen children.

Bach wrote the majority of his instrumental works during the Koethen period.

In 1723, he became the choir leader for two churches in Leipzig, Germany, in addition to teaching music classes and giving private lessons.

Most of Bach’s choral music was composed in Leipzig.

Bach’s deep religious faith could be found even in his secular music. He would put the initials “I.N.J.,” a Latin abbreviation that means, In Nomine Jesu, or “in the name of Jesus,”on his manuscripts.

The Brandenburg Concertos were written in 1721 as a tribute to the Duke of Brandenburg.

The Well-Tempered Clavier was composed as a collection of keyboard pieces to help students learn various keyboard techniques and methods.

Fredrick the Great, King of Prussia inspired Bach’s composition of a set of fugues called Musical Offering in 1740.

The Art of Fugue was begun in 1749 but was not completed.

After struggling with blindness and a failed surgery on his eyesight, Bach suffered a stroke and died in Leipzig, July 28, 1750. He was 65 years old.

His entire career was spent in a contracted area of Germany that is smaller than most of the States in America.

Johann Sebastian Bach is considered the quintessential composer of the Baroque era, and one of the most important figures in classical music in general. His complex musical style was nearly lost in history but gratefully it survives to be studied and enjoyed today. You can learn more about this icon by visiting his dedicated website. In the words of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), “Study Bach: there you will find everything.”

30 Inspirational Quotes For Every Musician

Published by StringOvation Team on February 09, 2017

Most of us, from time to time feel discouraged. In fact, because we all need emotional boosts every once in a while, a large portion of social media content is motivational, designed to uplift your soul and the souls of others. So, in the spirit of time-honored encouragement, the following quotes are specifically for musicians. If you’ve been feeling down about your progress as a musician or just about where your talent might take you, the musings of these various composers and performers should help elevate your psyche.

The following inspirational quotes for musicians were gleaned from a variety of sources, including BrainyQuotes, Musicians Buy Line, Classic FM, and Quotes-Inspirational. They feature insights from musicians of all genres and levels of success, as well as a few from composers, philosophers, and other iconic thinkers.

Igor Stravinsky: "Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal."

J.S. Bach: "I was obliged to be industrious. Whoever is equally industrious will succeed equally well."

Robert Schumann: "To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist."

Dmitri Shostakovich: "A creative artist works on his next composition because he was not satisfied with his previous one."

Elvis Presley: “The truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away.”

Mick Jagger: “Lose your dreams and you might lose your mind.”

BB King: “The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.”

Bob Marley: “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain."

Pablo Casals: “Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart."

Billy Joel: “I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music."

John Lennon: “Life is what happens when you’re making other plans.”

Marcus Miller: “It's a great thing about being a musician; you don't stop until the day you die, you can improve. So it's a wonderful thing to do."

Thelonious Monk: “All musicians are potential band leaders.”

Sting: “If you play music with passion and love and honesty, then it will nourish your soul, heal your wounds and make your life worth living. Music is its own reward.”

Ludwig van Beethoven: “Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.”

Bono (U2): “Music can change the world because it can change people.”

Carlos Santana: “Just as Jesus created wine from water, we humans are capable of transmuting emotion into music.”

John Denver: “Music does bring people together. It allows us to experience the same emotions. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit. No matter what language we speak, what color we are, the form of our politics or the expression of our love and our faith, music proves: We are the same.”

Plato: “Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.”

Thomas Carlyle: “Music is well said to be the speech of angels.”

Roy Ayers: “The true beauty of music is that it connects people. It carries a message, and we, the musicians, are the messengers.”

William Congreve: “Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast, to soften rocks or bend a knotted oak.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes: “Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.”

Chris S. Salazar: “Music is by far the most wonderful method we have to remind us each day of the power of personal accomplishment.”

Karlheinz Stockhausen: “Whenever I felt happy about having discovered something, the first encounter, not only with the public, with other musicians, with specialists, etc, was that they rejected it.”

John McLaughlin: “At the risk of sounding hopelessly romantic, love is the key element. I really love to play with different musicians who come from different cultural backgrounds.”

Billy Joel: “Musicians want to be the loud voice for so many quiet hearts.”

Neil Diamond: “Because my musical training has been limited, I've never been restricted by what technical musicians might call a song.”

Igor Stravinsky: “Too many pieces of music finish too long after the end.”

Plato: “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”

You may have already heard some of these inspirational quotes for musicians, but it never hurts to hear them again.

"SCHINDLER'S LIST" IN THE LARGEST EUROPEAN SYNAGOGUE: XAVER VARNUS & CS...

"Schindler's List" in the largest European synagogue in Budapest. Csongor Korossy-Khayll (Violin) & Xaver Varnus at the great Jemlich Organ of the synagogue, with the participation of Balazs Barnkopf (Theater Organ) and Balazs Elischer (Hammond Organ). Recorded live in 2017. Special thanks to Chief Rabbi Robert Frolich, Kati Frolich, Dr. Peter Kunos & Ivan Róna.

The Varnus Organ Hall needs your help. We are asking the community's support to restoring and operating Varnus Hall, Canada's only private organ concert venue owned by Xaver Varnus, to provide a worthy home for organists, famous artists and young talent alike, from around the world to perform, and broadcast their concerts online. We are grateful to you if you can help our work with any donations. https://ca.gofundme.com/f/fundraising

Csongor Korossy-Khayll is a Hungarian violin prodigy, who played one of his first public appearances with the legendary Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Ivan Fischer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjbS1...

Born in Budapest, his first piano teacher was Emma Németh, one of the last pupils of Claude Debussy. Xaver Varnus has played virtually every important organ in the world, including those in Bach's Thomaskirche in Leipzig (2014), Berliner Dom (2013), Notre-Dame (1981), Saint-Sulpice (2006) and Saint-Eustache (1996) in Paris, National Shrine in Washington, D.C. (1985), and Canterbury Cathedral (2004), as well as the largest existing instrument in the world, the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia (1985). His Quadruple Platinum Disc winning album From Ravel to Vangelis, released by Sony BMG in 2007, is the best-selling organ CD ever. As a Canadian citizen, Xaver Varnus resides in Berlin, Germany. "Put simply, Varnus is a monster talent, every bit as stimulating and individual as the late Glenn Gould" (The Globe & Mail, Canada's National Newspaper).

Morricone conducts Morricone: The Mission (Gabriel's Oboe)

Live recording at the Philharmonie im Gasteig, 20 October 2004,

The Mission's main theme performed by Munchen Radio Orchestra under the direction of Morricone himself and recorded by Giovanni Morricone.

Morricone received the Academy Honorary Award in 2007 "for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music." He also received 5 Oscar nominations and he won 3 Grammy Awards, 2 Golden Globes as well as numerous other awards, which are too many to mention. A composer of music for the cinema, whose music was an element in itself.

「めぐり逢い An Affair To Remember」サウンド・トラック Sound Track

An Affair to Remember is a 1957 American romance film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Filmed in CinemaScope, it was distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is considered among the most romantic films of all time according to the American Film Institute.

The film was a remake of McCarey's 1939 film Love Affair, starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer.

Mantovani - Elizabethan Serenade (Original Title Serenade)

Mantovani - his music and his life

Birth name Annunzio Paolo Mantovani

Also known as Tulio Trapani

Born 15 November 1905

Venice, Veneto, Italy

Died 29 March 1980 (aged 74)

Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England

Genres Light music

Occupation(s) Conductor

Composer

Years active 1939–1980

Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (Italian: [anˈnuntsjo ˈpaːolo mantoˈvaːni]; 15 November 1905 – 29 March 1980) was an Anglo-Italian conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature.

The book British Hit Singles & Albums stated that he was "Britain's most successful album act before the Beatles ... the first act to sell over one million stereo albums and [have] six albums simultaneously in the US Top 30 in 1959"

Biography

Mantovani was born in Venice, Italy, into a musical family.His father, Benedetto Paolo "Bismarck" Mantovani, was a violinist and served as the concertmaster of La Scala opera house's orchestra in Milan, under the baton of Arturo Toscanini. The family moved to England in 1912, where young Annunzio studied at Trinity College of Music in London. After graduation, he formed his own orchestra, which played in and around Birmingham. He married Winifred Moss in 1934, having two children: Kenneth (born 12 July 1935) and Paula Irene (born 11 April 1939). By the time World War II broke out, his orchestra was one of the most popular British dance bands, both on BBC radio broadcasts and in live performances.

He was also musical director for a large number of musicals and other plays, including Noël Coward's Pacific 1860 (1946) and Vivian Ellis's musical setting of J. B. Fagan's And So to Bed (1951).After the war, he concentrated on recording, and eventually gave up live performance altogether. He worked with arranger and composer Ronald "Ronnie" Binge, who developed the "cascading strings" effect (also known as the "Mantovani sound") His records were regularly used for demonstration purposes in stores selling hi-fi stereo equipment, as they were produced and arranged for stereo reproduction. He became the first person to sell a million stereophonic records] In 1952, Binge ceased to arrange for Mantovani but the distinctive sound of the orchestra remained.

Mantovani recorded for Decca and London Records the US arm of the Decca Record Company, exclusively. He recorded in excess of 50 albums on that label, many of which were Top 40 hits. His single tracks included "The Song from Moulin Rouge", which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in 1953 "Cara Mia" (with him and his orchestra backing David Whitfield) in 1954; "Around the World" in 1957; and "Main Theme from Exodus (Ari's Theme)" in 1960. In the United States, between 1955 and 1972, he released more than 40 albums with 27 reaching the "Top 40", and 11 in the "Top Ten". His biggest success came with the album Film Encores, which attained number one in 1957

Similarly, Mantovani Plays Music From 'Exodus' and Other Great Themes made it to the Top Ten in 1961, with over one million albums sold

Mantovani starred in his own syndicated television series, Mantovani, which was produced in England and which aired in the United States in 1959. Thirty-nine episodes were filmed Mantovani made his last recordings in the mid-1970s.

He died at a care home in Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent.[1] His funeral was held at the Kent and Sussex Crematorium and Cemetery on 8 April 1980.

Music style and influences

The cascading strings technique developed by Binge became Mantovani's hallmark in such hits arranged by Binge as "Charmaine". Binge developed this technique to replicate the echo experienced in venues such as cathedrals and he achieved this goal through arranging skill alone.

Author Joseph Lanza describes Mantovani's string arrangements as the most "rich and mellifluous" of the emerging light music style during the early 1950s. He stated that Mantovani was a leader in the use of new studio technologies to "create sound tapestries with innumerable strings", and that "the sustained hum of Mantovani's reverberated violins produced a sonic vaporizer foreshadowing the synthesizer harmonics of space music." His style survived through an ever-changing variety of musical styles prompting Variety to call him "the biggest musical phenomenon of the twentieth century"

From 1961 to 1971, David McCallum Sr was leader of Mantovani's orchestra. At this time, his son David McCallum Jr was at the height of his fame, prompting Mantovani to introduce his leader to audiences with the quip, "We can afford the father but not the son!"

Mantovani is referred to by name in The Kinks song "Prince of the Punks". He also had a big influence on Brian May, Queen guitarist.

During his lifetime, Mantovani did not always get respect from his fellow musicians. When George Martin first suggested overdubbing Paul McCartney's recording of "Yesterday" with strings, McCartney's initial reaction, according to Martin, was that he did not want it sounding like Mantovani. Martin therefore used a more classical sound, employing a string quartet.

Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty Suite - Alondra de la Parra & Staatskapelle...

Four Phantoms Medley ft. Sarah Brightman | The Phantom of The Opera

2,735,059 views  Oct 20, 2020  Sarah Brightman returns as Christine when she's joined by four legendary Phantom's from years gone by as they sing the show's hit numbers, 'The Phantom of The Opera' and 'Music of The Night' in celebration of 25 years.

Phantom Quartet - Colm Wilkinson, John Owen-Jones, Anthony Warlow, Peter Jöback

Who's your favourite Phantom? 

SONGS

00:00 - The Phantom of The Opera

05:27 - The Music of The Night

From Phantom of The Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (2011): In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, Cameron Mackintosh produced a unique, spectacular staging of the musical on a scale which had never been seen before. Inspired by the original staging by Hal Prince and Gillian Lynne, this lavish, fully-staged production set in the sumptuous Victorian splendour of London's legendary Royal Albert Hall features a cast and orchestra of over 200, plus some very special guest appearances.

James Last (Germany) - Romance (L.v.Beethoven)--Theme from ''Elvira Madi...

Can't Take My Eyes Off You (Stunnig Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra)

2017 - Invitation to the Dance. Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra and United Choirs performed this stunning music under the baton of maestro Nejc Bečan.  They played as usual with great spirit and musical excelence. Concert master is Nejc Avbelj. Our youth orchestra set another musical milestone. Concert and film director: Primož Zevnik

You can connect with maestro Nejc Bečan and his work on

https://upbeateditions.com​. 

You can find there his amazing compositions, arrangements. 

"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 single credited to Frankie Valli. The song was among his biggest hits, earning a gold record and reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week.] It was co-written by Bob Gaudio, a bandmate of Valli's in The Four Seasons. It was Valli's biggest solo hit until he hit #1 in 1974. The song was written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio.

Solo vocal: Ana Bertoncelj, Ana Koprivnikar, Regina Selan

Arrangement: Marjan Peternel

sound design: Mitja Krže

assistant director and editorial: Juš Hrastnik

concert director: Primož Zevnik

GIMNAZIJA KRANJ SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 2017

Flutes, pikolo: Vita Benko, Julia Ana Irgelj, Karin Primožič, Ajda Kajdiž, Brina Robinik Kobal, Neža Peternel, Ana Bergant, Neža Čadež, Vito Krajnik, Katjuša Rupnik; Oboa: Ana Souza Leban, Ana Stoschitzky; English Horn: Neža Podbršček; Clarinets: Domen Kos, Peter Franc Letonja, Aiden Franko, Klara Polajnar, Jaka Bodlaj, Hana Grobovšek, Peter Kuder (Es klarinet); Base Clarinet: Nejc Herman; Fagot: Boštjan Žekar, Dejan Rihtarič

Saksofon: Primož Lah, Juš Lesjak, Martin Verbič, Gal Grobovšek; Francoski rog: Mihajlo Bulajić, Tadej Kopitar, Marko Pirc, Aljaž Praprotnik, Jernej Klenovšek; Trobenta: Oskar Šubic, Aleš Klančar, Blaž Avbar, Matej Kravcar; Tubes: Žan Škrjanec, Filip Istenič, Domen Gantar, Urban Turjak, Jakob Istenič (Evfonij); Tuba: Tilen Jelenc; 1. violins: Nejc Avbelj, Leja Meglič, Laura Ana Oman, Ana Poklukar, Maruša Lučič Bolka, Lara Bogataj, Lana Grbič, Katarina Miklavčič, Oskar Longyka, Ana Krpan, Matija Udovič, Kaja Sešek, Anja Šoštarič, Neža Capuder; 2. violins: Tim Skalar Demšar, Veronica Radigna, Ajda Azocar, Ana Sešek, Tonka Pogačnik Pirnat, Mojca Batič, Ana Marija Jurečič, Nežka Starc, Tina Jamšek, Anja Šoštarič, Metka Udovč, Klara Gruden; Viola: Taja Starčič Križnar, Špela Pirnat, Ricardo Azocar, Anuša Plesničar, Neža Papler, Kristijan Dražil, Hana Lavrinc, Petar Njegovan, Anastazija Krenn, Eva Kovačič , 

Violončelo: Ana Zupan, Hana Ekar Grlj, Maruša Bogataj, Nika Vremšak, Katarina Kozjek, Ema Kobal, Romana Šimbera, Tadeja Žele , Arslan Hamidulin, Katarina Minatti; Kontrabas: Miha Firšt, Marie Elaine Malowerschnig, Gašper Livk, Urban Čefarin, Rok Hozjan, Janez Krevel, Karim Zajec; Tolkala: Vid Ušeničnik, Dan Ažman Pistotnik, Marko Jurečič, Filip Okrožnik, Leon Ostanek Jurina, Miha Ogris, Klemen Jelenc, Lenart Kolja Kokalj

Klavir: Liza Rozman, Eva Zupan, Katja Jerič, Vita Naglič

Kitara, bas kitara: Urh Zupan, Luka Štibelj, Emir Ibrakić

Harmonika: Ana Lombar; Harfa: Urša Rihtaršič, Zala Hrastnik

GIMNAZIJA KRANJ MIXED CHOIR (chorus master Erik Šmid)

Sopran: Gaja Šegula, Luna Rozman, Ana Čop, Hana Pristavec, Anita Hudobivnik, Karmen Jošt, Tjaša Ribnikar, Jedrt Mikelj, Karmen Zalokar, Mirjam Šenk, Brina Sitar; Alt: Lana Šumi, Kaja Križaj, Ajda Debelak, Gaja Nemanič, Špela Vovk, Nina Lukan, Meta Logar, Janina Gašperlin, Živa Krajnik, Nika Markun, Tinkara Krišelj, Tajda Škraba, Ema Oblak; Tenor: Maj Čufer, Tevž Sitar, Lovro Krišelj, Tilen Lotrič; Bas: Urban Erzar Frantar, Erazem Pivk, Žan Žnidar, Andraž Rakovec, Marko Zupan, Andrej Svoljšak, Matej Naglič, Matej Logar, Matic Oman, Jernej Šmid

GIMNAZIJA KRANJ GIRLS CHOIR (chorus master Marjeta Oblak)

Sopran: Ema Ažbe, Neža Majnik, Tea Aljaž, Tina Urh, Ana Krek, Neža Šolar, Lea Krampl, Lina Peharc, Nina Žumer, Manca Peternelj, Maja Pogačnik, Evelina Stare, Katja Potočnik, Lara Juvan, Tinkara Torkar, Kim Klančar; Alt: Saša Peterlin, Nika Mali, Kaja Železnikar, Kristina Čop, Ana Žerovnik, Anja Horvat, Eva Kern, Ema Jelenc, Ana Remic, Brina Avsec, Ana Lombar, Rea Legat, Ela Štirn, Ana Bertoncelj, Marija Pogačnik, Ema Soklič, Regina Selan, Lucija Brina Arvaj

Joys and Sorrows of Outdoor Concerts

by Janet Horvath, Interlude 

The Prague Symphony Orchestra outdoor performance © cleveland.com

Ah! It’s finally summer festival and outdoor concert time. Families love to picnic while orchestras play in various outdoor venues.

The audiences come to our outdoor performances in droves. They are excited to introduce the orchestra to their children where they can run around freely and dance to the music waving their little arms conducting as it were. I can remember the joys and sorrows of playing outside. Either it was extremely hot with humidity that caused the fingerboard of one of our cellos to melt off, or so cold that we were reduced to wearing mittens with the fingertips cut off! We would often set up right on the grass with barely a shell behind us, exposed to the sun, rain and wind. We had long clothespins to hold the music down and I was the lunger — I’d unclip the page and whip it over while my stand-partner continued playing. Then he would leap up to clip the newly turned page on the left side of the stand — teamwork to say the least. We were ok as long as the stands didn’t blow over as well! Our survival kit had to include the clothespins, sunglasses, cloths to protect our instruments from direct sun, bug spray, seat cushions for the hard folding chairs, a white jacket if it was cold which one could whip off if it was hot, sunscreen, and water bottles.

One summer black and green thick clouds rolled in and sure enough torrential rains engulfed us. With only one canvas bass case among the 10 players, the bass players took turns rushing each bass to the wooden trunks, which were several feet away behind the meager shell.

Another summer when I was principal cello I performed the famous cello solo in Poet and Peasant Overture, by Franz von Suppé, which I thought I did famously even on my “outdoor” cello. Evidently, a bird thought otherwise and dropped one on my cello. Editorial comment no doubt.

Franz von Suppé: Dichter und Bauer (Poet and Peasant): Overture (London Philharmonic Orchestra; Neville Marriner, cond.)

No concert was complete without Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, and since it was outdoors we used real cannons. One year we played sitting on hay bales in an open field. Everyone was happy but the cows. They were terrified by the noise.

We and many other orchestras always finish with the encore The Stars and Stripes Forever, the famous march of America’s “March King” John Philip Sousa, which always gets the audience clapping in rhythm.

John Philip Sousa: The Stars and Stripes Forever (Royal Artillery Band; Keith Brion, cond.)

As a child Sousa attended band rehearsals with his father. His heartfelt ambition was to play with the local circus band but his parents disapproved so vigorously that he became an apprentice musician with the Marine Band. At the tender age of twenty-six he became the Band’s director. During his tenure Sousa expanded the Band’s repertoire with not only the work of Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Wagner and others — Europe’s then contemporary composers — but his own compositions such as President Garfield’s Inauguration March, Semper Fidelis, and The Washington Post. Sousa was extremely popular so much so that he left the Marine Band to start his own band in 1892.

The USA Marine Band with conductor John Philip Sousa © Keystone/Getty Images

While on vacation in Europe four years later, Sousa received word that his band manager, David Blakely, a good friend, had died. Sousa immediately sailed back to the States. The music of The Stars and Stripes Forever began to come to him. Sousa wrote: ” …absorbed in thoughts of my manager’s death and the many duties and decisions which awaited me in New York, suddenly, I began to sense a rhythmic beat of a band playing within my brain. Throughout the whole tense voyage, that imaginary band continued to unfold the same themes, echoing and re-echoing the most distant melody. I did not transfer a note of that music to paper while I was on the steamer, but when we reached shore, I set down the measures that my brain-band had been playing for me, and not a note of it has ever changed.” Sousa’s Band played the march at almost every concert it held after that. Interestingly, Sousa set words to it, but it is rarely performed that way.

© The Bow and Baton

Usually our outdoor concerts were scheduled to coincide with late summer sunsets for the fireworks displays. The stage managers erected great big tall lights so we could see our music. Sure enough, as soon as it became dark, out came the insects. We could see them swarming around the lights and descending on us juicy unsuspecting victims. We couldn’t stop playing to swat a mosquito that had landed on us in the middle of Tchaikovsky! Sometimes we would have the opportunity in a bar or two of rest to hit a couple of them with our bows while they crawled on our music. One year a child came running up to the stage to spray bug repellant on our exposed ankles while we continued our playing and flailing.

Despite years of promises from the sponsors, as soon as the fireworks trigger person heard The Stars and Stripes Forever he invariably launched the fireworks, usually right behind the orchestra shell. We hurried frantically to pack up our instruments while cinders landed on us. The noise of course was deafening both from the booms and the ooohs and aahhhs of the crowds.

Some festivals have fancy facilities like Tanglewood in Massachusetts, home of the Boston Symphony, where there is a permanent stage and benches for seating the audience. The orchestra has air conditioning blowing up from the floor and a roof over their heads, good chairs and lighting, and a backstage. Audiences can purchase picnic baskets filled with everything one would want for dinner including wine! Santa Fe Opera is a state-of-the-art outdoor facility too as is the Aspen Festival. In Europe there are many festivals some with indoor facilities. The famous Verbier Festival’s main hall The Salle des Combins seats 1700. Each row is on a separate tier, which guarantees and excellent view of the stage. Improvements to the soundproofing and heat insulation make this a very high quality non-permanent venue. Others include Flanderies Musicales de Reims, and Granada International Festival of Music and Dance and many others (you can check on the festivals section for more information.)

Next summer we look forward to the throngs who love hearing the orchestra outside and in!

When the Hero isn’t Quite Heroic

The Clueless Heroes in Classical Operas

by Maureen Buja, Interlude

Throughout most of the opera, there are certain tropes that repeat and repeat: the heroine will die of some wasting disease (La Bohéme, La Traviata, etc.), the hero will save the day (Die Zauberflöte), and so on. There are some operas, however, where it’s the idiot or the simpleton who saves the day.

Richard Strauss: Guntram

In Richard Strauss’ unsuccessful opera Guntram, our title character is a minstrel. He first dissuades duchess Freihild from drowning herself. He then goes to her husband, Duke Robert, a grasping tyrant, and sings a song to peace and generous rulers, which doesn’t go over very well, and then urges rebellion against the duke. The duke attacks our minstrel, who turns out to be a knight-minstrel and slays the duke. While imprisoned, Guntram realizes that, although he spoke of liberation, he was really acting out of love for Freihild. He decides that in atonement, he will spend the rest of his life in solitude, while gazing upon the benevolent reign of Freihild.

Guntram (Heinrich Zeller) and Freihild (Pauline de Ahna), 1894, Weimar

Richard Wagner: Siegfried

This is Strauss at his most Wagnerian, and the minstrel (perhaps standing in for the composer) was an unusual hero for an opera. However, if we look at Wagner, we have another idiot hero. Siegfried is a boy from the forest. Raised by Mime the dwarf, Siegfried despises his foster father and declares that he only stays until Mime tells him about his childhood. Mime tells him about Sieglinde and Siegmund and how Sieglinde died giving birth to Siegfried. Only Siegfried, the ‘one who knows no fear,’ can forge the great sword Nothung and after slicing Mime’s anvil in half, goes off to fight Fafner, the dragon left over from the first Ring opera.

Jay Hunter Morris as Siegfried (Metropolitan Opera)

Siegfried, raised only by Mime, is such an innocent that when he gets to his pre-destined role in this opera, rescuing Brünnhilde from the ring of fire her father has imprisoned her in, that he unwittingly utters the funniest line in the entire Ring cycle: “Das ist kein Mann!” (That is no man!), as he removes her armour. He’s one of the rare slices first, ask questions later opera heroes.

Modest Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov

The opera Boris Godunov has a character called a ‘yuródivïy,’ i.e., a fool for Christ. These Holy Fools act intentionally foolish, to ‘conceal their perfection from the world.’ The yuródivïy appears in Act IV, chased by children and singing a nonsense song. As the Pretender readies himself for his march on Boris, the yuródivïy sings a song predicting the difficulties that the country will soon face (Flow, flow, bitter tears!).

Sam Furness as the Holy Fool in Boris Godunov, 2019 (The Royal Opera) (Photo by Clive Barda)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Zauberflöte

In Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, we have the unique character of Papageno. A bird-catcher by profession, he’s seemingly half-bird himself.

Emanuel Schikaneder, librettist of Die Zauberflöte, shown performing in the role of Papageno as shown in the first edition of the libretto

He’s not above lying to Tamino about how he killed the fearsome serpent, but when he’s pressed into service for our hero, he’s the first one to actually discover the kidnapped Pamina. Through the trial sequence, despite being told over and over to be silent, he can’t keep still. Banished from the test, he is saved by the appearance of his own half-bird woman, Papagena. We know that Tamino and Pamina will have a difficult intellectual life but that the two simpletons, Papagena and Papageno are only intending to have many, many, many children.

Papageno (Jonathan Michie) and Papagena (Hye-Jung Lee) and children (Florida Grand Opera)

Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff

We could also consider Verdi’s Falstaff as the idiot hero – used to a life of pleasure when he hung around with Prince Hal, he’s no longer the center stage when Hal becomes King Henry. His attempts to seduce women end with him being thrown in the river with the laundry and his forest appearance as the ghost of Herne the Hunter, complete with stag horns.

Robert Smirke: Fallstaff with his horns

Idiots and half-men, religious fanatics and social innocents – all have their place in the world of opera.

Henry Mancini - Love Theme from "Sunflower(I Girasoli)" OST (1970)

Henry Mancini (/mænˈsiːni/ man-SEE-nee; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, Italian: [enˈriːko niˈkɔːla manˈtʃiːni]; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994)was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and twenty Grammy Awards, plus a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.

His works include the theme and soundtrack for the Peter Gunn television series as well as the music for The Pink Panther film series ("The Pink Panther Theme") and "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's. The Music from Peter Gunn won the inaugural Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Mancini enjoyed a long collaboration in composing film scores for the film director Blake Edwards. Mancini also scored a No. 1 hit single during the rock era on the Hot 100: his arrangement and recording of the "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet" spent two weeks at the top, starting with the week ending June 28, 1969.

Early life

Henry Mancini was born Enrico Nicola Mancini in the Little Italy neighborhood of Cleveland and raised in West Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. Both his parents were Italian immigrants. Originally from Scanno, Abruzzo, his father Quintiliano "Quinto" Mancini was a laborer at the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company and amateur musician who first came to the U.S. as a teenager around 1910His mother Anna (née Pece) came to the U.S. from Forlì del Sannio as an infant

At age eight, Mancini began learning the piccolo Mancini said that hearing Rudolph G. Kopp's score in the 1935 Cecil B. DeMille film The Crusades inspired him to pursue film music composition despite his father's wishes for him to become a teacher.

He later studied piano and orchestral arrangement under Pittsburgh concert pianist and Stanley Theatre (now Benedum Center) conductor Max Adkins. Not only did Mancini produce arrangements for the Stanley Theatre bands, but he also wrote one for Benny Goodman, an up-and-coming bandleader introduced to him by Adkins.According to Mancini biographer John Caps, the young Mancini "preferred music arranging to any kind of musical performance, but taking apart a Chopin mazurka or Schumann sonata in order to play it helped him see...how the puzzle of form, meter, melody, harmony, and counterpoint had been solved by previous composers."

After graduating from Aliquippa High School in 1942, Mancini first attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh. Later that year, Mancini transferred to the Juilliard School of Music in New York City following a successful audition in which he performed a Beethoven sonata and improvisation on "Night and Day" by Cole Porter Because he could only take orchestration and composition courses in his second year, Mancini studied only piano in his first year at Juilliard, in a condition Caps called "aimless and oppressed—a far cry from Adkins's enabling protective environment.

After turning 18, Mancini enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in 1943. While in basic training in Atlantic City, New Jersey, he met musicians being recruited by Glenn Miller. Owing to a recommendation by Miller, Mancini was first assigned to the 28th Air Force Band before being reassigned overseas to the 1306th Engineers Brigade in France. In 1945, he helped liberate the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Austria.

Career

Newly discharged, Mancini entered the music industry. In 1946, he became a pianist and arranger for the newly re-formed Glenn Miller Orchestra, led by 'Everyman' Tex Beneke. After World War II, Mancini broadened his skills in composition, counterpoint, harmony and orchestration during studies opening with the composers Ernst Krenek and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.

In 1952, Mancini joined the Universal-International's music department. During the next six years, he contributed music to over 100 movies, most notably Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Creature Walks Among Us, It Came from Outer Space, Tarantula, This Island Earth, The Glenn Miller Story (for which he received his first Academy Award nomination), The Benny Goodman Story and Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. During this time, he also wrote some popular songs. His first hit was a single by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians titled I Won't Let You Out of My Heart.

Mancini left Universal-International to work as an independent composer/arranger in 1958. Soon afterward, he scored the television series Peter Gunn[9] for writer/producer Blake Edwards. This was the genesis of a relationship in which Edwards and Mancini collaborated on 30 films over 35 years. Along with Alex North, Elmer Bernstein, Leith Stevens and Johnny Mandel, Henry Mancini was a pioneer of the inclusion of jazz elements in the late romantic orchestral film and TV scoring prevalent at the time. Mancini's scores for Blake Edwards included Breakfast at Tiffany's (with the standard "Moon River") and Days of Wine and Roses (with the title song, "Days of Wine and Roses"), as well as Experiment in Terror, The Pink Panther (and all of its sequels), The Great Race, The Party, 10 (including "It's Easy to Say") and Victor Victoria. Another director with whom Mancini had a longstanding partnership was Stanley Donen (Charade, Arabesque, Two for the Road). Mancini also composed for Howard Hawks (Man's Favorite Sport?, Hatari! – which included the "Baby Elephant Walk"), Martin Ritt (The Molly Maguires), Vittorio de Sica (Sunflower), Norman Jewison (Gaily, Gaily), Paul Newman (Sometimes a Great Notion, The Glass Menagerie), Stanley Kramer (Oklahoma Crude), George Roy Hill (The Great Waldo Pepper), Arthur Hiller (Silver Streak)Ted Kotcheff (Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?), and others. Mancini's score for the Alfred Hitchcock film Frenzy (1972) in Bachian organ andante, for organ and an orchestra of strings was rejected and replaced by Ron Goodwin's work.

Mancini scored many TV movies, including The Moneychangers, The Thorn Birds and The Shadow Box. He wrote many television themes, including Mr. Lucky (starring John Vivyan and Ross Martin),[20] NBC Mystery Movie,[21] Tic Tac Dough (1990 version),[22] Once Is Not Enough, and What's Happening!! In the 1984–85 television season, four series featured original Mancini themes: Newhart, Hotel, Remington Steele, and Ripley's Believe It or Not. Mancini also composed the "Viewer Mail" theme for Late Night with David Letterman., Mancini composed the theme for NBC Nightly News used beginning in 1975, and a different theme by him, titled Salute to the President was used by NBC News for its election coverage (including primaries and conventions) from 1976 to 1992. Salute to the President was published only in a school-band arrangement, although Mancini performed it frequently with symphony orchestras on his concert tours.

Songs with music by Mancini were staples of the easy listening genre from the 1960s to the 1980s. Mancini's style symbolized the bright, confident, hospitable voice of bourgeois, inspired by the idealistic Kennedy-era of the 1960s.[23] Some of the artists who have recorded Mancini songs include Andy Williams, Paul Anka, Pat Boone, Anita Bryant, Jack Jones, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Connie Francis, Eydie Gorme, Steve Lawrence, Trini Lopez, George Maharis, Johnny Mathis, Jerry Vale, Ray Conniff, Quincy Jones, The Lennon Sisters, The Lettermen, Herb Alpert, Eddie Cano, Frank Chacksfield, Warren Covington, Sarah Vaughan, Shelly Manne, James Moody, Percy Faith, Ferrante & Teicher, Horst Jankowski, Andre Kostelanetz, Peter Nero, Liberace, Mantovani, Tony Bennett, Julie London, Wayne Newton, Arthur Fiedler, Secret Agent and the Boston Pops Orchestra, Peggy Lee, and Matt Monro. The Anita Kerr Quartet won a Grammy award (1965) for their album We Dig Mancini, a cover of his songs. Lawrence Welk held Mancini in very high regard, and frequently featured Mancini's music on The Lawrence Welk Show (Mancini made at least two guest appearances on the show). Mancini briefly hosted his own musical variety TV show in a similar format to Welk's, The Mancini Generation, which aired in syndication during the 1972–73 season.

Mancini recorded over 90 albums, in styles ranging from big band to light classical to pop. Eight of these albums were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. He had a 20-year contract with RCA Victor, resulting in 60 commercial record albums that made him a household name among artists of easy-listening music. Mancini's earliest recordings in the 1950s and early 1960s were of the jazz idiom; with the success of Peter Gunn, Mr. Lucky, and Breakfast at Tiffany's, Mancini shifted to recording primarily his own music in record albums and film soundtracks. (Relatively little of his music was written for recordings compared to the amount that was written for film and television.) Beginning with his 1969 hit arrangement of Nino Rota's A Time for Us (as his only Billboard Hot 100 top 10 entry, the No. 1 hit "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet") and its accompanying album A Warm Shade of Ivory, Mancini began to function more as a piano soloist and easy-listening artist recording music primarily written by other people. In this period, for two of his best-selling albums he was joined by trumpet virtuoso and The Tonight Show bandleader Doc Severinsen.

Among Mancini's orchestral scores are (Lifeforce, The Great Mouse Detective, Sunflower, Tom and Jerry: The Movie, Molly Maguires, The Hawaiians), and darker themes (Experiment in Terror, The White Dawn, Wait Until Dark, The Night Visitor).

Mancini was also a concert performer, conducting over fifty engagements per year, resulting in over 600 symphony performances during his lifetime. He conducted nearly all of the leading symphony orchestras of the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. One of his favorites was the Minnesota Orchestra, where he debuted the Thorn Birds Suite in June 1983. He appeared in 1966, 1980 and 1984 in command performances for the British Royal Family. He also toured several times with Johnny Mathis and also with Andy Williams, who had both sung many of Mancini's songs; Mathis and Mancini collaborated on the 1986 album The Hollywood Musicals. In 1987 he conducted an impromptu charity concert in London in aid of Children In Need. The concert included Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture with firework accompaniment over the River Thames.

Cameos

Shortly before his death in 1994, he made a one-off cameo appearance in the first season of the sitcom series Frasier, as a call-in patient to Dr. Frasier Crane's radio show. Mancini voiced the character Al, who speaks with a melancholy drawl and hates the sound of his own voice, in the episode "Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast? Moments after Mancini's cameo ends, Frasier's radio broadcast plays "Moon River".

Mancini also had an uncredited performance as a pianist in the 1967 movie Gunn, the movie version of the series Peter Gunn, the score of which he had composed.

In the 1966 Pink Panther cartoon Pink, Plunk, Plink, the panther commandeered an orchestra and proceeded to conduct Mancini's theme for the series. At the end, the shot switched to rare live action, and Mancini was seen alone applauding in the audience. Mancini also made a brief appearance in the title sequence of 1993's Son of the Pink Panther, allowing the panther to conduct Bobby McFerrin in performing the film's theme tune.

Death and legacy

Mancini died of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles on June 14, 1994.He was working at the time on the Broadway stage version of Victor/Victoria, which he never saw on stage. Mancini was survived by his wife of 43 years, singer Virginia "Ginny" O'Connor, with whom he had three children. She died on October 25, 2021.

They had met while both were members of the Tex Beneke orchestra, just after World War II. In 1948, Mrs. Mancini was one of the founders of the Society of Singers, a non-profit organization which benefits the health and welfare of professional singers worldwide.

One of Mancini's twin daughters, Monica Mancini, is a professional singer; her sister Felice runs The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation (MHOF). His son Christopher is a music publisher and promoter in Los Angeles.

Henry Mancini created a scholarship at UCLA and some of his library and works are archived in the music library at UCLA, with additional materials preserved at the Library of Congress.[citation needed]

In 1996, the Henry Mancini Institute, an academy for young music professionals, was founded by Jack Elliott in Mancini's honor, and was later under the direction of composer-conductor Patrick Williams. By the mid-2000s, however, the institute could not sustain itself and closed its doors on December 30, 2006.The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Foundation "Henry Mancini Music Scholarship" has been awarded annually since 2001.

In 2005, the Henry Mancini Arts Academy was opened as a division of the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center. The center is located in Midland, Pennsylvania, minutes away from Mancini's hometown of Aliquippa. The Henry Mancini Arts Academy is an evening-and-weekend performing arts program for children from pre-K to grade 12, with some classes also available for adults. The program includes dance, voice, musical theater, and instrumental lessons.

The American Film Institute ranked Mancini's songs "Moon River" No. 4 and "Days of Wine and Roses" No. 39 on their list of the greatest songs and his score for The Pink Panther No. 20 on their list of the greatest film scores. His scores for Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Charade (1963), Hatari! (1962), Touch of Evil (1958) and Wait Until Dark (1967) were also nominated for the list.

Awards

Mancini was nominated for 72 Grammy Awards and won 20. He was nominated for 18 Academy Awards and won four He also won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for two Emmy Awards.

In 1961, Mancini won two Academy Awards, one for "Moon River" for Best Original Song and one for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture for the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. In 1962, he won Best Original Song again, this time for "Days of Wine and Roses". He won Best Original Score again in 1982 for the movie Victor/Victoria.

In 1989, Mancini received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

In 1997, Mancini was posthumously awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.

On April 13, 2004, the United States Postal Service honored Mancini with a thirty-seven cent commemorative stamp. The stamp was painted by artist Victor Stabin and shows Mancini conducting in front of a list of some of his movie and TV themes.