Victor Young
Encyclopedia
Victor Young was an American composer
, arranger
, violin
ist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.
of the Paris Conservatory.While still a teenager he embarked on a career as a concert violinist with the Warsaw Philharmonic under Julius Wertheim before returning to Chicago in 1920 to join the orchestra at Central Park Casino. He then went to Los Angeles to join his Polish fiancée, finding employment first as a fiddler in impresario Sid Grauman's Million Dollar Theatre Orchestra then going on to be appointed concert-master for Paramount-Publix Theatres. In the mid-1930s he moved to Hollywood where he concentrated on films, recordings of light music and providing backing for popular singers, including Bing Crosby
.His composer credits include "When I Fall in Love
," "Blue Star
(The 'Medic' Theme)," "Moonlight Serenade (Summer Love)" from the motion picture The Star (1952), "Sweet Sue," "Can't We Talk It Over," "Street of Dreams," "Love Letters
," "Around the World
," "My Foolish Heart
," "Golden Earrings," "Stella by Starlight
", and "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You
."
in 1931 where his studio groups recorded scores of popular dance music, waltzes and semi-classics through 1934. His studio groups often contained some of the best jazz musicians in New York, including Bunny Berigan
, Tommy Dorsey
, Jimmy Dorsey
, Joe Venuti, Arthur Schutt
, Eddie Lang
, and others. He used first-rate vocalists, including Paul Small, Dick Robertson, Harlan Lattimore
, Smith Ballew
, Helen Rowland, Frank Munn, The Boswell Sisters, Lee Wiley
and others. One of his most interesting recordings was the January 22, 1932 session containing songs written by Herman Hupfeld
"Goopy Geer" and "Down The Old Back Road", which Hupfeld sang and played piano on (his only two known vocals).
In late 1934, Young signed with Decca
and continued recording in New York until mid-1936, when he relocated to Los Angeles.
. He was musical director for many of Bing Crosby
's recordings for the American branch of Decca Records
. For Decca, he also conducted the first album of songs from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
, a sort of "pre-soundtrack" cover version
rather than a true soundtrack album
. The album featured Judy Garland
and the Ken Darby
Singers singing songs from the film in Young's own arrangements. He also composed the music for several Decca spoken word album
s.
He received 22 Academy Award
nominations for his work in film, twice being nominated four times in a single year, but he did not win during his lifetime. He received his only Oscar posthumously for his score of Around the World in Eighty Days
(1956). His other scores include Golden Boy
(1939), For Whom the Bell Tolls
(1943), Love Letters
(1945), So Evil My Love
(1948), Samson and Delilah
(1949), Our Very Own
(1950), My Favorite Spy
(1951), Payment on Demand
(1951), The Quiet Man
(1952), Scaramouche
(1952), Something to Live For
(1952), Shane (1953), A Man Alone
(1955), and Written on the Wind
(1956).
Young also composed "The Call of the Faraway Hills," used as the theme for the U.S. television series Shane.
As an occasional bit player, Young can be glimpsed briefly in The Country Girl
(1954) playing a recording studio leader conducting Crosby while he tapes "You've Got What It Takes". His last film score was for Omar Khayyam
, starring Cornel Wilde
, filmed in 1956 and released by Paramount
in 1957 after Young's death.
Young died in Palm Springs, California
after a cerebral hemorrhage at age 56. He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, CA. His family donated his artefacts and memorabilia (including his Oscar) to Brandeis University
, where they are housed today.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.
Biography
Young was born in Chicago on 8 August 1900 into a very musical family, his father being a member of one Joseph Sheehan’s touring Opera company. The young Victor began playing violin at the age of six, and was sent over to Poland when he was ten to stay with his grandfather and study at Warsaw Imperial Conservatory, achieving the Diploma Of Merit.He studied the piano with Isidor PhilippIsidor Philipp
Isidor Philipp was a French pianist, composer, and distinguished pedagogue of Hungarian descent. He was born in Budapest and died in Paris.-Biography:...
of the Paris Conservatory.While still a teenager he embarked on a career as a concert violinist with the Warsaw Philharmonic under Julius Wertheim before returning to Chicago in 1920 to join the orchestra at Central Park Casino. He then went to Los Angeles to join his Polish fiancée, finding employment first as a fiddler in impresario Sid Grauman's Million Dollar Theatre Orchestra then going on to be appointed concert-master for Paramount-Publix Theatres. In the mid-1930s he moved to Hollywood where he concentrated on films, recordings of light music and providing backing for popular singers, including Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
.His composer credits include "When I Fall in Love
When I Fall in Love (song)
"When I Fall in Love" is a popular song, written by Victor Young and Edward Heyman . It was introduced in the film One Minute to Zero. The song has become a standard, with many artists recording it, though the original hit version was by Doris Day.Doris Day's recording was made on June 5, 1952...
," "Blue Star
Blue Star (song)
"Blue Star" is a popular song.The theme music of the television series, Medic, was written by Victor Young and copyright on February 17, 1955 under the title "The Medic Theme." A set of lyrics were written by Edward Heyman and with those lyrics and under the new title "Blue Star," a new copyright...
(The 'Medic' Theme)," "Moonlight Serenade (Summer Love)" from the motion picture The Star (1952), "Sweet Sue," "Can't We Talk It Over," "Street of Dreams," "Love Letters
Love Letters (song)
"Love Letters" is a 1945 popular song with music by Victor Young and lyrics by Edward Heyman. The song appeared, without lyrics, in the movie of the same name, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song for 1945....
," "Around the World
Around the World (1956 song)
"Around the World" was the theme tune from the 1956 movie Around the World in 80 Days It never actually featured with the lyrics in the Around the World in Eighty Days film, but it is the vocal version which has by far become the better known...
," "My Foolish Heart
My Foolish Heart (song)
"My Foolish Heart" is a popular song that was published in 1949.The music was written by Victor Young and the lyrics by Ned Washington. The song was introduced by the singer Martha Mears in the 1949 film of the same name. The song failed to escape critics' general laceration of the film...
," "Golden Earrings," "Stella by Starlight
Stella By Starlight
"Stella by Starlight" is a jazz standard written by Victor Young and featured in The Uninvited, a 1944 film released by Paramount Pictures. Originally played in the film as an instrumental theme song without lyrics, it was turned over to Ned Washington, who wrote the lyrics for it in 1946...
", and "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You
I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You
"I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You" is a 1932 song composed by Victor Young, with lyrics written by Ned Washington and Bing Crosby, recorded on October 14, 1932 by Bing Crosby in New York. Bing Crosby was accompanied by the ARC Brunswick Studio Orchestra with Lennie Hayton on piano. Two...
."
Records
Young was signed to BrunswickBrunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
in 1931 where his studio groups recorded scores of popular dance music, waltzes and semi-classics through 1934. His studio groups often contained some of the best jazz musicians in New York, including Bunny Berigan
Bunny Berigan
Rowland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan was an American jazz trumpeter who rose to fame during the swing era, but whose virtuosity and influence were shortened by a losing battle with alcoholism that ended in his early death at age 33. He composed the jazz instrumentals "Chicken and Waffles" and "Blues"...
, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
, Joe Venuti, Arthur Schutt
Arthur Schutt
Arthur Schutt was an American jazz pianist and arranger.Schutt learned piano from his father, and accompanied silent films as a teenager in the 1910s...
, Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang was an American jazz guitarist, regarded as the Father of Jazz Guitar. He played a Gibson L-4 and L-5 guitar, providing great influence for many guitarists, including Django Reinhardt.-Biography:...
, and others. He used first-rate vocalists, including Paul Small, Dick Robertson, Harlan Lattimore
Harlan Lattimore
Harlan Lattimore , was a popular African American singer with several jazz orchestras of the 1930s, most notably Don Redman's. He was known as "The Colored Bing Crosby" ....
, Smith Ballew
Smith Ballew
Smith Ballew was an American actor, sophisticated singer, orchestra leader, and finally, a Western singing star....
, Helen Rowland, Frank Munn, The Boswell Sisters, Lee Wiley
Lee Wiley
Lee Wiley was an American jazz singer popular in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.Wiley was born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. While still in her early teens, she left home to pursue a singing career with the Leo Reisman band. Her career was temporarily interrupted by a fall while horseback riding...
and others. One of his most interesting recordings was the January 22, 1932 session containing songs written by Herman Hupfeld
Herman Hupfeld
Herman Hupfeld was an American songwriter whose most notable composition was "As Time Goes By."-Biography:Hupfeld studied violin in Germany at 9. He was in the military during World War I, and he entertained camps and hospitals during World War II...
"Goopy Geer" and "Down The Old Back Road", which Hupfeld sang and played piano on (his only two known vocals).
In late 1934, Young signed with Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
and continued recording in New York until mid-1936, when he relocated to Los Angeles.
Radio and films
On radio, he was the musical director of Harvest of StarsHarvest of Stars
Harvest of Stars was a concert music series, produced and directed by Glen Heisch and starring James Melton. Sponsored by International Harvester, the program was broadcast on NBC and CBS from 1945 to 1950....
. He was musical director for many of Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
's recordings for the American branch of Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
. For Decca, he also conducted the first album of songs from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, a sort of "pre-soundtrack" cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
rather than a true soundtrack album
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
. The album featured Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
and the Ken Darby
Ken Darby
Kenneth Lorin Darby was an American composer, vocal arranger, lyricist, and conductor. His film scores were recognized with three Academy Awards and one Grammy Award.- Personal life :...
Singers singing songs from the film in Young's own arrangements. He also composed the music for several Decca spoken word album
Spoken word album
A spoken word album was a record album that did not consist mainly of music or songs, but of spoken material. It could be said to be the ancestor of today's audiobook format...
s.
He received 22 Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
nominations for his work in film, twice being nominated four times in a single year, but he did not win during his lifetime. He received his only Oscar posthumously for his score of Around the World in Eighty Days
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956 film)
Around the World in 80 Days is a 1956 adventure film produced by the Michael Todd Company and released by United Artists. It was directed by Michael Anderson. It was produced by Michael Todd, with Kevin McClory and William Cameron Menzies as associate producers. The screenplay was written by James...
(1956). His other scores include Golden Boy
Golden Boy (film)
Golden Boy is a 1939 black-and-white Columbia Pictures drama film based on the Clifford Odets play of the same name. It features William Holden in the role that made him a star: a promising violinist who wants to be a boxer. Barbara Stanwyck plays his love interest. The supporting cast included Lee J...
(1939), For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls (film)
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 film in Technicolor based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. It stars Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff and Katina Paxinou. This was Ingrid Bergman's first technicolor film. Hemingway handpicked Cooper and Bergman for their roles. The film...
(1943), Love Letters
Love Letters (1945 film)
Love Letters is a 1945 film adapted by Ayn Rand from the novel Pity My Simplicity by Christopher Massie. It was directed by William Dieterle and stars Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ann Richards, Cecil Kellaway, Gladys Cooper and Anita Louise...
(1945), So Evil My Love
So Evil My Love
So Evil My Love is a 1948 British psychological thriller film, directed by Lewis Allen and starring Ray Milland, Ann Todd and Geraldine Fitzgerald. The film is a period drama set in the Victorian era, and shot in film noir style in the late-1940s sub-genre often referred to as "Gaslight noir"...
(1948), Samson and Delilah
Samson and Delilah (1949 film)
Samson and Delilah is a 1949 film made by Paramount Pictures , produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr as the title characters...
(1949), Our Very Own
Our Very Own (1950 film)
Our Very Own is a 1950 American drama film directed by David Miller. The screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert focuses on a teenaged girl who learns she was adopted as an infant.-Plot:...
(1950), My Favorite Spy
My Favorite Spy
My Favorite Spy is a 1951 comedy film starring Bob Hope and Hedy Lamarr. The movie was directed by Norman Z. McLeod.-Cast:*Bob Hope as Peanuts White/Eric Augustine*Hedy Lamarr as Lily Dalbray*Francis L...
(1951), Payment on Demand
Payment on Demand
Payment on Demand is a 1951 drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt. The screenplay by Bernhardt and Bruce Manning chronicles a marriage from its idealistic early days to its dissolution.-Plot synopsis:...
(1951), The Quiet Man
The Quiet Man
The Quiet Man is a 1952 American Technicolor romantic comedy-drama film. It was directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen and Barry Fitzgerald. It was based on a 1933 Saturday Evening Post short story by Maurice Walsh...
(1952), Scaramouche
Scaramouche (1952 film)
Scaramouche is a 1952 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer romantic adventure film based on the 1921 novel Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini as well as the 1923 film version starring Ramón Novarro. The film stars Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh, and Mel Ferrer. It was directed by George Sidney and...
(1952), Something to Live For
Something to Live For (film)
Something to Live For is a 1952 American drama film starring Joan Fontaine, Ray Milland, and Teresa Wright, directed by George Stevens, and released by Paramount Pictures...
(1952), Shane (1953), A Man Alone
A Man Alone (film)
A Man Alone is a 1955 Western directed by and starring Ray Milland. The supporting cast includes Mary Murphy, Ward Bond, Raymond Burr, Lee Van Cleef, and Alan Hale, Jr.. The story involves a man who stumbles into the aftermath of a stagecoach robbery in the desert in which there were no...
(1955), and Written on the Wind
Written on the Wind
Written on the Wind is a 1956 American drama film directed by Douglas Sirk. It stars Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone....
(1956).
Young also composed "The Call of the Faraway Hills," used as the theme for the U.S. television series Shane.
As an occasional bit player, Young can be glimpsed briefly in The Country Girl
The Country Girl (1954 film)
The Country Girl is a 1954 drama film adapted by George Seaton from a Clifford Odets play of the same name, which tells the story of an alcoholic has-been actor struggling with the one last chance he's been given to resurrect his career. It stars Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly and William Holden. Seaton,...
(1954) playing a recording studio leader conducting Crosby while he tapes "You've Got What It Takes". His last film score was for Omar Khayyam
Omar Khayyam (film)
Omar Khayyam is an American movie directed by William Dieterle, filmed in 1956 and released in 1957...
, starring Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde
Cornel Wilde was an American actor and film director.-Early life:Kornél Lajos Weisz was born in 1912 in Prievidza, Hungary , although his year and place of birth are usually and inaccurately given as 1915 in New York City...
, filmed in 1956 and released by Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
in 1957 after Young's death.
Young died in Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
after a cerebral hemorrhage at age 56. He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, CA. His family donated his artefacts and memorabilia (including his Oscar) to Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
, where they are housed today.
Broadway
- Murder at the VanitiesMurder at the VanitiesMurder at the Vanities is a musical film based on the 1933 Broadway musical with music by Victor Young, made in the pre-Code era, and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Mitchell Leisen, stars Carl Brisson, Jack Oakie, Kitty Carlisle, Gertrude Michael, Toby Wing, and Jessie Ralph...
(1933) - musical - contributing composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media... - Blackbirds of 1933Blackbirds of 1933Blackbirds of 1933 is a musical revue that debuted Dec 2, 1933 at the Apollo Theatre in New York. It featured the premiere of the Joseph Young/Ned Washington standard "A Hundred Years From Today."-Productions:...
(1933) - revueRevueA revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
- featured songwriterSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer... - Winged VictoryWinged Victory (play)Winged Victory is a play and, later, a film by Moss Hart, originally created and produced by the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II as a morale booster and as a fundraiser for the Army Emergency Relief Fund. Upon recommendation of Lt. Col. Dudley S. Dean, who had been approached with the...
(1944) - playPlay (theatre)A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
- performer for the role of "Lee" - Arms and the Girl (1950) - musical - performer for the role of "Son of Liberty"
- Pardon Our French (1950) - revue - composer
- Seventh Heaven (1955) - musical - composer
Sources
- Young, Victor. Cinema Rhapsodies: The Musical Genius of Victor Young Ontario: (Hit Parade Records, 2006).
External links
- Victor Young Collection of Television Music. UCLA. Performing Arts Special Collections, findaid.oac.cdlib.org.
- Victor Young at the Internet Broadway DatabaseInternet Broadway DatabaseThe Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....
, ibdb.com - Victor Young's Web, victoryoung.czechian.net