How would you classify Henry Mancini?

[pmsummer]

Brilliant composer, flutist (although he specialized in piccolo), pianist, conductor. My very first LP was his soundtrack to "Hatari" featuring "Baby Elephant Walk". The man had more facets than a fine diamond. He could and did compose in every musical format available to him except classical symphonic. A shame, too. I think his mind could have grasped the complex form factor of symphonic music. Imagine: Mancini: Symphony No. 1. Maybe it'll be found in a desk drawer someday.

Or maybe John Adams will compose "Symphonic Variations on Themes by Mancini". :yes:

 

[Arkay]

A lot of his performed stuff I file under "easy listening", mostly because I don't know where else to put it, but as a composer he was actually quite varied, as "Peter Gunn" shows. That was/is a GREAT song! :yes:

My last haul of LPs included a Lawrence Welk (Yeah, I know! It was a "bulk buy!" ) recording of "Baby Elephant Walk". That was one of my favorite songs when it came out, at least up to about the age of five!

IF you play some of his LPs (I've got a bunch of them, all from bulk buys), you discover that he was responsible for a lot of very familiar and good music that you grew up hearing, even if it wasn't on the Rock stations! His stuff was played a lot on the FM band/"old-folk's stations"!

 

[mhardy6647]

Or maybe John Adams will compose "Symphonic Variations on Themes by Mancini". :yes:

My brain read John Williams when my eyes read John Adams. John Williams does up Mancini... that's some funny stuff right there. John Adams? Isn't he a dead president?

;-)

 

[spaceman]

I just found this thread in a search, was looking up "Peter Gunn", because I heard "of" it here at AK, but never heard it. I found several old albums in a thrift today, & one is the RCA Victor New Orthophonic version (LSP-1956). It looks like this was recorded in 1958, so it's not TOO surprising that I'm not really familiar with it.

 

[spaceman]

OK, the verdict is in: I REALLY like it. :thmbsp: I found tuxjunction.net, & listened to the first one, now listening to More Music from Peter Gunn.

 

[59volvo]

Mancini is popular to cover with the new wave of insturmental surf bands. Experiment in Terror was covered by Davie Allan and Laika and the Cosmonauts


http://www.amazon.com/Fuzz-Fest-Davie-Allan-Arrows/dp/B000006ROT/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1269319475&sr=1-2


http://www.amazon.com/Instruments-Terror-Laika-Cosmonauts/dp/B000003NOQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1269319376&sr=1-3

 

[Isotonic]

My brain read John Williams when my eyes read John Adams. John Williams does up Mancini... that's some funny stuff right there. John Adams? Isn't he a dead president?

;-)

John Adams is a contemporary American composer of Opera and Symphonic works. He is widely regarded as the best living American composer. His music can be a challenging to listen too. His early stuff is often compared to works by Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Overall his work is very cerebral. If he did variations on Henry Mancini, you probably wouldn't recognize it as anything from Mancini. :yes:

 

[Isotonic]

I like Mancini too. He came up with some great hooks. Seems most of his stuff was written for big band. He certainly had a unique voice and many successful contributions. I know some Big band fans that think his music is too simple, or easy etc. But I think to write some of the iconic sounds that he came up with requires rare talent.

 

[Infinitoid]

Favorite Mancini tune: "House of the Rising Sun" from Mancini '67. The way he uses alto and bass flutes is stunning. Actually the whole album is excellent.

 

[grillebilly]

here is a review from the Washington Post for surf great Danny Morris, and they list two Mancini tunes as being some of his best music

http://www.dannymorrisband.com/051796.html

 

[Sandy G]

Brilliant composer, flutist (although he specialized in piccolo), pianist, conductor. My very first LP was his soundtrack to "Hatari" featuring "Baby Elephant Walk". The man had more facets than a fine diamond. He could and did compose in every musical format available to him except classical symphonic. A shame, too. I think his mind could have grasped the complex form factor of symphonic music. Imagine: Mancini: Symphony No. 1. Maybe it'll be found in a desk drawer someday.

My favorite offa "Hatari !" was "Your Father's Feathers". "Peter Gunn" was the epitome of "Cool" when I was a kid. I got a re-mastered CD of the PG album about 10 yrs ago, & DAH-YUM...

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Mr. Mancini was one of our fiinest composers and too versatile to label with genres. He did a little of virtually everything superbly! Try some of his best and you'll love his musicianship and excellent recording quality. :tresbon:

 

[Theophilus Punoval]

Cool?

Cool? Hip?

 

[spaceman]

Well, it'd be pretty tough to find anything as cool as The Pink Panther, meaning the soundtrack, the movie, AND the cartoons.

 

[Isotonic]

Favorite Mancini tune: "House of the Rising Sun" from Mancini '67. The way he uses alto and bass flutes is stunning. Actually the whole album is excellent.

I'll have to check that out Infinitoid. Thanks for the heads up.