Song of the Day: Ben-Hur (“Balthasar”) [YouTube link], composed by the great Miklos Rozsa, has been praised for being the “gorgeous multi-thematic cue” that it is. Rozsa won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for a soundtrack that remains his crowning achievement and a cinematic milestone. The 1959 film collected 11 Oscars—a record tied by both “Titanic” (1997) and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003), but never beaten. I listened to and fell in love with this film score long before I saw the film in its 70 mm tenth anniversary release in the summer of 1969 at the Palace Theatre in Manhattan. Described by many as “perhaps the most beautiful film score ever written,” Rozsa’s “stunning and elequent music” emerges from one of the longest scores “ever composed for a film, and certainly the most influential score of the epic film genre.” Each of its “individual musical themes” easily stands “alone as an extraordinary orchestral composition,” as Monica Cyrino has written. On this date, it has become customary for me to feature a selection from this, my all-time favorite film score and film. After all, it’s my birthday (the Big 6-5)! And no, I’m not retiring!
Postscript: I wanted to express my love and appreciation to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday on Facebook! As I indicated in my “Song of the Day” post, I may have hit the Big 6-5, but “retirement” is not part of my vocabulary!
To me, writing is almost as essential to my life and well-being as breathing! While I’ve been posting my annual Film Music February Festival, it’s not as if I’m fiddling around while the world burns. I continue to write and speak out on many issues on various forums, especially Notablog. Recent posts include: “A New York Rant,” “Flooding the Zone with Trump,” and “The Trans Politician?.”
Again, my deepest thanks to all my friends and family for the wonderful birthday greetings!
Notablog 