I know I'm a little bit late with this Birthday, but on July 22, 1949, American composer/singer/song-writer Alan Menken was born in New York. I just heard a program on classical radio today interviewing him, and thus the blog-post.
As the program host, Jim Svejda, noted, Menken is growing to be one of the most award-decorated film composer/song-writers of all time, in some ways coming close to Alfred Newman and John Williams. According to wikipedia, he has won 12 awards (academy awards, tony awards, etc) and has been nominated for 10 more on top of that. His most popular music has been from recent Disney animated films, including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the recent Disney film, Enchanted.
I remember watching Beauty and Beast in the theater when it came out. I was only 13 years old at the time (why would a 13-year-old boy care about sissy fairy-tales?) As soon as the movie began, I was absolutely transfixed by the music in the prologue to the story, and I remember getting goose-pimples all over and my eyes moistening up with tears. Needless to say, Beauty and the Beast is probably my favorite Walt Disney animated movie (although Robin Hood comes pretty close, for different reasons).
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4 comments:
I've always thought B&B was Disney's most beautifully executed film, and the music is a significant part of that.
No excuse needed for "a little late," under the circumstances. Praying for you all.
Thanks. Tune in during the next 48 hours and I hopefully will have an announcement!
Beauty and the Beast as an entire musical Disney movie including the prologue definitely makes it one of my all time favorites. I still do enjoy the Little Mermaid and Aladdin soundtracks (Lion King too I guess), but even the latest Menken film, Enchanted, had catchy tunes and was an entertaining film. When reading your post, I wondered why a 13 year old boy would be watching this film but realized I had watched it as well. Your blog did start off saying you were watching the musical, but then later on talked about the movie, which one was it? The theater show or the cartoon film? Congrats on baby Rebekah. I'm looking forward to your future blog on Liszt and I expect to see excerpts, posted on youtube of Mr. Daniel Rogstad playing Transcendental Etude No.8, the Wilde Jagd (Wild Hunt). Bust out an old video and make sure you posted it up there.
Sorry for the ambiguity. I meant movie theater, not musical theater. I've never had the pleasure of seeing the musical.
Unfortunately, I don't believe I was ever filmed playing Wild Jagd, though I do have several audio versions. All my recordings are VHS or analogue tapes. I really need to invest in an analogue-to-digital tape converter or whatever it is I would need. Must preserve my precious recordings... ;P
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