Ernst Sigmund Goldner (July 13, 1921 – March 17, 1999), known professionally as Ernest Gold, was an Austrian-born American

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 ...

. He is most noted for his work on the film '' Exodus'' produced in 1960.

Early life

Gold was born in 1921 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, the son of Elisabeth (Stransky) and Gustav Goldner. Gold's father's mother (Jaiteles) had ancestry from

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

, Hungary and mother's mother (Therese Sprung) from Temesvár and Budapest (Spitzer). Gold came from a musical family. His father played the violin, and his mother sang. His father also studied under Richard Heuberger. Gold said he learned to read music before he learned to read words. He studied violin and piano when he was six and began composing music at eight. By 13, he had written an entire opera. As a child, he said he wanted to go to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and be a composer. Gold would go to movie theaters as a teenager, not only to watch the films but to listen to the musical score. Among prominent film composers of the time, he admired

Max Steiner Maximilian Raoul Steiner (10 May 1888 – 28 December 1971) was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and became one of cinema of the United States, Hollywood's greatest musical composers. Steiner was a child prodi ...

. In 1938, Gold attended the Viennese Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst, but he and his family moved to the U.S. after the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

in Austria, because his family was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. In

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Gold earned money by working as an accompanist and writing popular songs. He also studied with Otto Cesana and Léon Barzin at the National Orchestra Association.

Career

NBC Orchestra performed Gold's first symphony in 1939, only a year after he moved to the United States. In 1941, he composed a symphony that was later played at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in 1945. Gold moved to

in the same year to work with

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

, his first significant role being the score for the melodrama ''Girl of the Limberlost'' (1945). After this, Gold wrote scores for other minor films. For the next ten years, he worked on B movies, mainly orchestrating and arranging music for western movies and melodramas. In 1955,

Stanley Kramer Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous " message films" (he called his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a liberal movie icon.

asked Gold to orchestrate '' Not as a Stranger'' for which

George Antheil George Johann Carl Antheil ( ; July 8, 1900 – February 12, 1959) was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author, and inventor whose modernist musical compositions explored the sounds – musical, industrial, and mechanical – of the ear ...

had composed the music. This production opened the door for Gold to work with other scores by Antheil and to orchestrate more of Kramer's films. Gold worked on almost every film Kramer made, including '' A Child Is Waiting'' and ''

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' is a 1963 American Technicolor epic comedy film in Ultra Panavision 70 produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, from a screenplay by William and Tania Rose. The film, starring Spencer Tracy with an all ...

''. Gold produced his first original film score in 1958 for '' Too Much, Too Soon.'' His big break came in 1959, when he was asked to score '' On the Beach'' after Antheil became ill and recommended Gold for the job. Gold is most widely recognized for composing

the score The Score may refer to: Films and television * The Score (1978 film), ''The Score'' (1978 film), a 1978 Swedish film, released in Sweden as ''Lyftet'' * The Score (2001 film), ''The Score'' (2001 film), a 2001 crime drama film starring Robert De Ni ...

of '' Exodus'' (1960). He was contracted by

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( ; ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian Americans, Austrian-American film and theatre director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the the ...

and, atypically, was able to watch the movie being filmed. Gold spent time in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

while writing the score. In 1968, Gold wrote a Broadway musical called '' I'm Solomon''. He also wrote music for television. In his later life, Gold was musical director of the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra and founded the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Senior Citizens Orchestra. His concert works include a

piano concerto A piano concerto, a type of concerto, is a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for piano accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuosic showpieces which require an advance ...

, a

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

, and a piano sonata.

Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...

sampled Gold's "Fight for Survival" from ''Exodus'' for his song "

Porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

Awards

Gold's contributions were recognized with

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nominations and

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

nominations. * 1960: Golden Globe for Best Original Score for 1959's '' On the Beach''. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. * 1960: '' Exodus'' was nominated for a

in the Best Original Score category. The film also won an

for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and a Grammy for Best Soundtrack Album or Recording of Music Score from Motion Picture or Television. * For his contributions, Gold had his name engraved in the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

. He was the first composer to receive this honor.

Personal life

Gold was married to singer and actress

Marni Nixon Margaret Nixon McEathron (February 22, 1930 – July 24, 2016), known professionally as Marni Nixon, was an American soprano and ghost singer for featured actresses in musical films. She was the singing voice of leading actresses on the s ...

from 1950 to 1969. They had three children: musician Andrew Gold (composer of " Lonely Boy" and " Thank You for Being a Friend"), Martha Carr, and Melani Gold. Gold was married to Jan Keller Gold from 1975 until his death. Ernest Gold died March 17, 1999, in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, at 77 from complications following a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

Selected filmography

References

External links

* *
Ernest Gold papers, MSS 2196
at the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library, Harold B. Lee Library,

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Ernest 1921 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century classical composers American classical composers American film score composers American male classical composers American male film score composers American musical theatre composers American male musical theatre composers Austrian classical composers Austrian film score composers Austrian male classical composers Austrian musical theatre composers Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Golden Globe Award–winning musicians Grammy Award winners Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United States Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Musicians from Vienna