ScoreKeeper here paying tribute to a mighty champion of film music who is no longer among us. Most of you may not be familiar with the name Erich Kunzel. If you’re an avid collector of soundtracks you may know that Mr. Kunzel was a heavy force in the film music world. As conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, he devoted much of his life on the podium bringing the world of cinematic music to the masses through live performances and a mountain of recordings.

I was going to write up some words myself on Mr. Kunzel’s legacy until I received the following obituary written by John T. Stanhope. I thought it appropriate to let Mr. Stanhope take over from here.

It is with sorrow that we report the passing of Erich Kunzel at the age seventy-four. He was the celebrated conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra for well over thirty years, but on September 1, 2009 he was struck down by “cancer of the pancreas, liver and colon,” said Chris Pinelo, a spokesman for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, which encompasses the Pops. He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Brunhilde. He was diagnosed in late April, yet as advanced as the illness was by the end of May he still led the National Symphony in a Memorial Day concert on the Capitol Building lawn in Washington, and did so again on July 4. Both were televised by the Public Broadcasting Service. It was exactly one month prior to his death that he made his final public appearance, on August 1, at which he conducted the second half of a Pops concert in Cincinnati. Last year I wrote a light-hearted article of apology for not being able to attend a scheduled appearance he had in Denver, CO. He was conducting music from STAR TREK with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, which included themed appearances by TREK actors Robert Picardo and John de Lancie. The point was that I’d always wanted to see him live and he was a mere one hour away and I still couldn’t arrange to get away to see him. It seemed almost hypocritical because I’m always observing that we don’t get enough of the likes of him—or enough film music displayed—in the Colorado Springs/Denver area. Now I feel the regret of that missed concert more poignantly than ever and I am sorry for it. Mr. Kunzel was born to German-American immigrant parents in New York City. He began arranging music at an early age while at Greenwich High School in Connecticut and also played the piano, string bass, and timpani. He graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in music (thought he started out as a chemistry major), then studied at Harvard and Brown universities. He conducted for the Santa Fe Opera early in his career and studied at the Pierre Monteux School. From 1960 to 1965, he conducted the Rhode Island Philharmonic. Then from 1965 to 1977, he served as resident conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. It was also in 1977 that he helped found the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and became its conductor. In addition to his duties associated with this he lead the 8 o'clock popular concert series and made jazz recordings with Dave Brubeck and Duke Ellington. Under Maestro Kunzel's leadership the Pops became internationally known with half a dozen best-selling recordings a year and almost weekly subscription concerts. Once a major contender to succeed Arthur Fiedler at the Boston Pops, his popular recordings of classical music, Broadway musicals, and film scores topped worldwide crossover charts more than any other conductor or orchestra in the world. Mr. Kunzel was on a continuous mission to make orchestral music more accessible to those who might not normally be drawn to what they considered long-hair music. Just as one example, at Halloween he and the Pops musicians would don costumes and pumpkins would explode onstage. “He was able to take highbrow and in his inimitable way make it somehow lowbrow,” said his protégé, Steven Reineke, the associate conductor of the Cincinnati Pops, who was recently named music director of the New York Pops. “And I mean that in the best way possible.” He conducted professionally for just over fifty years and in that time tucked approximately 85 high-quality albums under his belt and sold ten million recordings, many of them compilations of film music (film score buffs became huge fans of him because of this). And like John Williams with the Boston Pops, he enjoyed adoration from nearly all those who admire orchestral music. Over fifty-five of the eighty-five or so albums he made with the Cincinnati Pops have landed on Billboard’s top ten charts. He won several Grammy Awards, the Grand Prix Du Disque, and the Sony Tiffany Walkman Award for “visionary recording activities.” He even made historic trips to China and was presented with the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons by the United States Government. Mr. Kunzel was a one of kind soul within his art form, but that soul managed to connect to people all around the world. He will be much missed. For more information on Erich Kunzel and his work, visit http://www.erichkunzel.com.

Thank you John for your heartfelt words. On behalf of Ain’t It Cool News I’d like to extend our condolences to the Kunzel family. He will certainly be missed.

ScoreKeeper