Albert Harris (13 February 1916 – 14 February 2005) was an English musician who worked most of his life in Hollywood as an

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

for several of the big Film Studios and for such pop icons as

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

and

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

. Harris was born in London and studied piano from age 6 and was also a self-taught

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

; his knowledge of this instrument enabled him in later years to compose pieces specifically for guitar (his ''Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel'' was recorded by

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987), was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students. Segovia ...

). During the mid-1930s he began to make a name for himself as a session musician in London where he featured on many recordings, most notably as session guitarist with the Lew Stone band, his delicate but swinging improvisations enhancing many of Stones records during the 1934–35 period. He came to New York in 1938 at which time he started playing piano in big bands across the U.S., after which he began studying at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

's College of Music where he earned a doctorate in music in 1944. Before earning his doctorate he moved to Los Angeles in 1942. Albert Harris studied composition with Mary Carr Moore and Eugen Zador in Los Angeles, and conducting with Richard Lert. He is a recipient of several awards for choral pieces, songs, and an octet for French Horn from the Los Angeles Horn Club. Albert Harris served as professor of orchestration at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. He was Assistant Musical Director for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from 1946 to 1949. In 1959, conductor Frank deVol recorded an album of Harris's compositions, ''Bacchanal'', which was 15 pieces, each named for a Greek god. "Music Service Incorporated" (MSI) was formed by Harris and two colleagues (one of whom was

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many vocalists at Capitol Records, including ...

) and was responsible for the music for four TV Shows: "

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), whic ...

– Dick Van Dyke Show," "Ray Bolger Show," " Danny Thomas Show," and " Andy Griffith Show." He was music director for

on the TV special "Barbra and Other Instruments," music orchestrator and arranger for

’s album "Bittersweet Moonlight" and was music arranger for

for appearances in Hollywood. Harris was the composer and conductor for Quinn Martin Productions, specifically "Cannon", "

Barnaby Jones ''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective fiction, detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law. They run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, Califor ...

", " Streets of San Francisco" and "

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

." Over a period of 30 years, Mr. Harris was employed by all the major film studios as an orchestrator and composer. A popular teacher and lecturer in Los Angeles, he was invited to speak at the Santa Barbara Academy of the West by

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His composition ...

. While he was president of the American Society of Music Arrangers (a post he held from 1989 to 1991), he co-lectured at a composer's workshop with

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...

.Allegro Archives, 1, Volume CV No. 3, March, 2005, "Requiem" (obituaries) Albert Harris was a member of Composers and Lyricists Guild of America, on the board of directors of the American Society of Music Arrangers. He won the National Composer's Award for his "Concerto de California" scored for guitar and String Quartet. Among those nominating Harris was

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

with whom Harris shares a harmonic language that, in the words of

Ned Rorem Ned Miller Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and a writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing i ...

, "sounds like the great outdoors". Harris retired from ''

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

'' and ''

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

'' work in 1990. He married Diane Smith, from New Zealand, in California in 1986, and the couple retired to New Zealand in 1992. He died in Auckland. He is survived by his wife Diane Harris and his sister Bette Friedman.

Selected filmography

* '' Don't Give Up'' (1947) *1955 ''Kiss Me Deadly'' *1958 ''Showdown at Boot Hill'', aka ''Shadow of Boot Hill'' *1958 ''Queen of Outer Space'', aka ''Queen of the Universe'' *1960 ''Saiyu-ki'', aka ''Alakazam the Great'' (USA), aka ''The Enchanted Monkey'', aka ''The Magic Land of Alakazam'' (USA) *1961 ''Master of the World'' *1963 ''The Raven'' *1965 ''Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine'' *1966 ''The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini'' *1970 ''Dirty Dingus Magee'' *1974-75 ''Cannon'' TV series, "Man in the Middle", "Voice from the Grave" *1979 ''The Curse of Dracula'' TV series

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Albert 1916 births 2005 deaths English composers English male composers English music arrangers Composers from London 20th-century British male musicians