Who Is Your Favorite Composer?

Who is your favorite composer? That is obviously a very hard question to answer. I love a lot of different music from music history. When I started my master's degree, I spent a lot of time with the music of Lassus. I also particularly enjoy Stravinsky's music. I really like Debussy's music. I find that my taste in music often differs a lot from what most contemporary composers listen to.

Lately, however, I have been listening to a lot of different film scores. The other day, I found the soundtrack to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. This is one of the better film scores out there, in my opinion. In music, we often talk about the "character" that a piece of music has. I found this video this morning on YouTube where Michael Kamen talks about how the film score enhances the presentation of characters in the movie. 


People may have heard most of Michael Kamen's music, however, most people probably do not know who he is. He's done a lot of film scores and popular music over the years. Perhaps the most moving project he was involved with was Mr. Holland's Opus. Michael Kamen was so moved by working on the film that he started the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation. This organization donates refurbished and new instruments to schools who would not have access to music otherwise. He also had a career in popular music. He worked with Pink Floyd, Queen, Eric Clapton, and Aerosmith. He was also the conductor of the orchestra for the Concert for George, the concert marking the anniversary of George Harrison's death.

Unfortunately, Michael Kamen is no longer with us. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1997 and died of a heart attack in 2003.