Stanley Myers (6 October 19309 November 1993) was an English composer and conductor, who scored over sixty films and television series, working closely with filmmakers

Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg ( ; 15 August 1928 – 23 November 2018) was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing ''Performance (film), Performance'' (1970), ''Walkabout (film), Walkabout'' (1971), ''Don't Look Now'' (1973) ...

, Jerzy Skolimowski and Volker Schlöndorff. He is best known for his guitar piece " Cavatina", composed for the 1970 film '' The Walking Stick'' and later used as the theme for '' The Deer Hunter''. He was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Film Music for ''Wish You Were Here'' (1987), and was an early collaborator with and mentor of

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, five Grammy Awards, and has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards and a Tony ...

Biography

Myers was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, England; as a teenager he went to King Edward's School in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham.

Obituary: Stanley Myers
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', Saturday, 13 November 1993 He married choreographer Eleanor Fazan. Myers wrote incidental music for television: for example, The Reign of Terror, a 1964 serial in the television series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

''; the theme to '' All Gas and Gaiters''; and the theme for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's '' Question Time''. One night in 1966, Myers and Barry Fantoni had called into the Chi Chi club to discuss the music for the movie '' Kaleidoscope'' which was to star

Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has received an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received the Irving G. Thalberg Memor ...

and Susannah York. What they were after was a switched-on song they needed for a switched-on intense movie. The resident group called Romeo Z came on and caused the ceiling to shake. There they knew they had the band they wanted, and they got the band to record the song "Kaleidoscope" which appeared in the film and on the soundtrack album which was released on Warner Bros. W 1663 in October 1966 He is known for composing music for the cult horror films '' House of Whipcord'', '' Frightmare'', '' House of Mortal Sin'' and '' Schizo'' for filmmaker Pete Walker. The Pink Floyd website credits the

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

parts on their 1968 song '' Corporal Clegg'' to "The Stanley Myers Orchestra". Myers is best known for " Cavatina" (1970), an evocative guitar piece, played by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

, that served as the signature theme for Michael Cimino's 1978 film '' The Deer Hunter'', and for which Myers won the

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

. A somewhat different version of this work, not performed by Williams, had appeared in '' The Walking Stick''. And yet another version had lyrics added. Cleo Laine and Iris Williams, in separate recordings as ''He Was Beautiful'', helped to make "Cavatina" become even more popular. During the 1980s, Myers worked frequently with director

Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...

. His score for '' Prick Up Your Ears'' (1987) won him a "Best Artistic Contribution" award at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

. He also scored the film '' Wish You Were Here'' and several low budget features (''Time Traveller'', ''Blind Date'', ''The Wind'', ''Zero Boys'') for director Nico Mastorakis, collaborating with

. He won another Ivor Novello Award for his soundtrack to '' The Witches'' in 1991. Myers died of cancer aged 63 in Kensington and Chelsea, London.

Filmography

Film

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

Television

References

External links

*
Stanley Myers
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Stanley 1933 births 1993 deaths 20th-century English classical musicians 20th-century English composers 20th-century English male musicians Deaths from cancer in England English film score composers English male film score composers English male television composers English television composers Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham Varèse Sarabande Records artists