Elliot Goldenthal

Elliot Goldenthal (born May 2, 1954) is an American composer of contemporary classical music and film and theatrical scores. He studied formally with John Corigliano and was deeply influenced and mentored by Aaron Copland, developing a distinctive style and ability to blend various musical styles and techniques in original and inventive ways. He is known for wide-ranging body of work spanning film, opera, ballet, theater and concert music, including Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2002 for his score to the motion picture Frida, directed by his longtime partner Julie Taymor.

Early life and education Goldenthal was born on May 2, 1954, the youngest son of a Jewish housepainter father and a Catholic seamstress mother in Brooklyn, New York City, where he was influenced from an early age by music from all cultures and genres. Goldenthal's maternal grandparents immigrated to the United States from Poland. Goldenthal lived in a multi-cultural part of town, and this is reflected in his works. He attended John Dewey High School in Brooklyn where, at the age of 14, he had his very first ballet Variations on Early Glimpses performed; he continued to display his eclectic musical range, performing with rock bands in the seventies.

He then studied music full-time at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with composer John Corigliano (whom he greatly admired), to earn his Bachelor of Music degree (1977) and Master of Music degree (1979) in musical composition.

Career Goldenthal has written works for concert hall, theater, dance and film. His film highlights include scores for films such as Pet Sematary, Titus, A Time to Kill, Interview with the Vampire, Alien 3, Michael Collins, Batman Forever, Heat and the Academy Award-winning score for Julie Taymor's Frida, a movie in which Goldenthal had a small acting part as a "Newsreel Reporter".

A leading voice in contemporary theater music, Goldenthal has collaborated extensively with Julie Taymor and Andre Șerban on productions ranging from Juan Darién: A Carnival Mass (which earned him a Tony Award nomination, Obie Award, and multiple Drama Desk nominations) to The Green Bird, M. Butterfly, and Grounded. His contributions to American stage have been recognized with the Stephen Sondheim award and the Edinburgh Festival Critics Choice Award.

Goldenthal has established a presence as a composer of classical music through symphonic, vocal, chamber, and operatic works. Highlights include Fire Water Paper, A Vietnam Oratorio, recorded for Sony Classical with Yo-Yo Ma; the Symphony in G-sharp Minor (2014), premiered by the Pacific Symphony under Carl St. Clair, and Symphony No. 3, "Sadowska Poems" (2021), inspired by the writing of Polish poet Barbara Sadowska. His chamber music includes the acclaimed String Quartet No. 1, "The Stone Cutters" (2013), while his opera Grendel, created with director Julie Taymor premiered at the Los Angeles Opera and was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Through these works, Goldenthal has emerged as a distinctive contemporary composer whose concert music combines symphony ambition with dramatic intensity.

His most significant work for dance is Othello (1997), a full length, three-act ballet commissioned by American Ballet Theatre and San Francisco Ballet and choreographed by Lar Lubovitch. Premiered at the Metropolitan Opera House, the production became a staple of the American Ballet Theatre repertory and was subsequently performed internationally, including engagements by the San Francisco Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. Widely praised for dramatic power and richly orchestrated score, Othello later served as the basis for his Symphony No. 2, "Othello Symphony." thumb

Goldenthal cites Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu as an influence and someone he styles his own career on; Goldenthal has said that the lines between traditional concert music and orchestral film score have become more blurred which is the way he thinks it should be.

Personal life He lives in New York City "happily unmarried", as he once put it, with his partner Julie Taymor, whom he met in 1980 through a mutual acquaintance, who told him, "I know a person whose work is just as grotesque as yours". They have an office/apartment where they both live and work.

Style Elliot Goldenthal has been called the "thinking man's composer" by film-music collectors and a generally more cerebral choice for film makers and lovers of film music. He is known for his experimentation, nuances and willingness to try unconventional techniques. He has scored films in almost every genre from horror to action to Shakespeare adaptations. He has not yet scored comedy, but he has composed comedic motifs for several films such as Demolition Man and the Batman series. His eclectic output has gained him a great deal of respect in the music and film communities and with fans. He is widely appreciated for his musical abilities and distinctive style, although some find his work to be too experimental or inaccessible. His action music is brutal and atonal. Sometimes, in underscore, he uses very fast French horn passages with bending tones and whining. Goldenthal has said that he doesn't "hear" atonal and tonal, rather, "I either hear melody or I hear sonority". According to Martinez, "a lot of composers want to focus on writing their music, and that's what [his] team allows Elliot to do."

List of works

Film and television works

Feature films

Television programs

Concert music works

Poems by Barbara SadowskaPremiered by soprano Adriana Ferfecka, the Beethoven Academy Orchestra and conductor Monika Stefaniak at the Krakow Filharmonia, 15 December 2021

Theatre works

Other appearances

Awards and nominations (2007) Pulitzer Prize for Music Nomination for his acclaimed "Grendel" opera (2004) Emmy Awards Nomination, "Great Performances: Dance in America" – Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Dramatic Underscore) (2004) ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards Win, "S.W.A.T." – Top Box Office Film Score (2003) World Soundtrack Awards 2003 Win, "Frida" – Best Original Soundtrack of the Year (2003) World Soundtrack Awards 2003 Win, "Frida" – Soundtrack Composer of the Year (2003) World Soundtrack Awards 2003 Nomination, "Burn It Blue" from "Frida" – Best Original Song Written for a Film (2002) Academy Awards Win, "Frida" – Best Original Score (2002) Academy Awards Nomination, "Frida", "Burn It Blue" – Best Original Song (2002) Golden Globes Win, "Frida" – Best Original Score (2002) World Soundtrack Awards 2002 Nomination, "The Dream Within" from "Final Fantasy: The Sprits Within" – Best Original Song Written for a Film (1999) Chicago Film Critics Association awards Nomination, "The Butcher Boy" – Best Original Score (1998) ASCAP awards Win, "Batman & Robin" – Top Box Office Film Score (1998) Chicago Film Critics Awards Nomination, "The Butcher Boy" – Best Original Score (1998) Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 1998 Win, "The Butcher Boy" – Best Original Score (1997) Tony Awards Nomination, "Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass" (Broadway Production) – Best Original Musical Score (1997) ASCAP awards Win, "A Time to Kill" – Top Box Office Film Score (1997) Grammy Nomination, "Defile and Lament" from "A Time to Kill" (1996) Academy Awards Nomination, "Michael Collins" – Best Original Score (1996) Golden Globe Nomination, "Michael Collins" – Best Original Score (1996) ASCAP awards Win, "Batman Forever" – Top Box Office Film Score (1995) Grammy Nomination, "Batman Forever" – Best Instrumental Composition (1995) ASCAP awards Win, "Interview with the Vampire" – Top Box Office Film Score (1995) Golden Globe Nomination, "Interview with the Vampire" – Best Original Score (1994) Academy Awards Nomination, "Interview with the Vampire" – Best Original Score (1994) ASCAP awards Win, "Demolition Man" – Top Box Office Film Score (1990) Edinburgh Festival Critics Choice Award Win, "Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass" – Best Music (1990) American Academy of Arts and Letters Richard Rodgers Award Win, "Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass" – Best Music (1988) Obie Award Win''', "Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass''" (Original Production) – Best Music

Among others including the Arturo Toscanini Award, the New Music for Young Ensembles composition prize, the Stephen Sondheim Award in Music Theater and a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship.