Victor Young


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Not to be confused with the actor Victor Sen Yung who was sometimes billed as Victor Young

Victor Young (August 8, 1900 - November 10, 1956) was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.

Young began as a classical composer and concert violinist but moved into the popular music sphere when he joined Ted Fio Rito's orchestra. In the mid-1930s he moved to Hollywood where he concentrated on films, recordings of light music and providing backing for popular singers, including Bing Crosby.

His composer credits include "When I Fall in Love," "Blue Star (The 'Medic' Theme)," "Moonlight Serenade (Summer Love)" from the motion picture The Star (film), "Sweet Sue," "Can't We Talk It Over," "Street of Dreams," "Love Letters," "Around the World," "My Foolish Heart," "Golden Earrings," "Stella By Starlight", and "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You."

Contents

Records

Young was signed to Brunswick in 1931 where his studio groups recorded scores of popular dance music, waltzes and semi-classics through 1934. His studio groups often contained some of the best jazz musicians in New York, including Bunny Berigan, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Joe Venuti, Arthur Schutt, Eddie Lang, and others. He used first-rate vocalists, including Paul Small, Dick Robertson, Smith Ballew, Helen Rowland, Frank Munn, The Boswell Sisters, Lee Wiley and others. One of his most interesting recordings was the January 22, 1932 session containing songs written by Herman Hupfeld "Goopy Geer" and "Down The Old Back Road", which Hupfeld sang and played piano on (his only two known vocals).

In late 1934, Young signed with Decca and continued recording in New York until mid-1936, when he relocated to Los Angeles.

Radio and films

On radio, he was the musical director of Harvest of Stars. He was musical director for many of Bing Crosby's recordings for the American branch of Decca Records. For Decca, he also conducted the first album of songs from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, a sort of "pre-soundtrack" cover version rather than a true soundtrack album. The album featured Judy Garland and the Ken Darby Singers singing songs from the film in Young's own arrangements. He also composed the music for several Decca spoken word albums.

He received 22 Academy Award nominations for his work in film, twice being nominated four times in a single year, but he did not win during his lifetime. He received his only Oscar posthumously for his score of Around the World in Eighty Days (1956). His other scores include Golden Boy (1939), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Love Letters (1945), Samson and Delilah (1949), My Favorite Spy (1951), Payment on Demand (1951), The Quiet Man (1952), Scaramouche (1952), Something to Live For (1952), Shane (1953), and Written on the Wind (1956). His last film score was for Omar Khayyam, starring Cornel Wilde, filmed in 1956 and released by Paramount in 1957 after Young's death.

At 56, Victor Young died in Palm Springs, California after a cerebral hemorrhage.

His family donated his artifacts and memorabilia (including his Oscar) to Brandeis University, where they are housed today.[1]

Broadway

  • Murder at the Vanities (1933) - musical - contributing composer
  • Blackbirds of 1933 (1933) - revue - featured songwriter
  • Winged Victory (1944) - play - performer for the role of "Lee"
  • Arms and the Girl (1950) - musical - performer for the role of "Son of Liberty"
  • Pardon Our French (1950) - revue - composer
  • Seventh Heaven (1955) - musical - composer

Sources

  • Young, Victor. Cinema Rhapsodies: The Musical Genius of Victor Young Ontario: (Hit Parade Records, 2006).

External links

References

  1. ^ "Brandeis Special Collections". Victor Young Collection. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.






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