Max Steiner
Maximilian Raoul Steiner (May 10, 1888 – December 28, 1971) was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and went on to become one of Hollywood's greatest musical composers. Steiner was a child prodigy who conducted his first operetta when he was twelve and became a full-time professional, proficient at composing, arranging, and conducting, by the time he was fifteen. Threatened with internment in England during World War I, he fled to Broadway; and in 1929 he moved to Hollywood, where he became one of the first composers to write music scores for films. He is often referred to as "the father of film music", as Steiner played a major part in creating the tradition of writing music for films, along with composers Dimitri Tiomkin, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Franz Waxman, Alfred Newman, Bernard Herrmann, and Miklós Rózsa. Steiner composed over 300 film scores with RKO Pictures and Warner Bros., and was nominated for 24 Academy Awards, winning three: The Informer (1935); Now, Voyager (1942); and Since You Went Away (1944). Besides his Oscar-winning scores, some of Steiner's popular works include King Kong (1933), Little Women (1933), Jezebel (1938), and Casablanca (1942), though he did not compose its love theme, "As Time Goes By". In addition, Steiner scored The Searchers (1956), A Summer Place (1959), and Gone with the Wind (1939), which ranked second on the AFI's list of best American film scores, and is the film score for which he is best known. He was also the first recipient of the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, which he won for his score for Life with Father. Steiner was a frequent collaborator with some of the best known film directors in history, including Michael Curtiz, John Ford, and William Wyler, and scored many of the films with Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and Fred Astaire. Many of his film scores are available as separate soundtrack recordings. |
Birth and Death Data: Born May 10, 1888 (Vienna), Died December 28, 1971 (Beverly Hills)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1933 - 1947
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, conductor
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | BS-78397 | 10-in. | 11/8/1933 | Buy a kiss | Hotel Pierre Orchestra ; Henry King | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | composer | |
Victor | BS-78955 | 10-in. | 1/10/1934 | Carioca | RKO Studio Orchestra ; Max Steiner | Dubbed recording from film : Jazz/dance band | conductor | |
Victor | 80007 | 10-in. | 8/26/1935 | A canção da fonte | Francisco Alves | Male vocal solo | composer | |
Victor | BS-010172 | 10-in. | 5/14/1937 | A star is born | Buddy Clark ; Eddy Duchin Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | composer | |
Victor | BS-010507 | 10-in. | 6/3/1937 | A star is born | Shep Fields ; Bobby Goday ; Rippling Rhythm Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | composer | |
Victor | BS-041558 | 10-in. | 8/15/1939 | Dust be my destiny | Johnny Messner ; Music Box Band | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | composer | |
Victor | S-052860 | 10-in. | 10/16/1943 | It can't be wrong | The Midnighters ; Nilo Sérgio | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | composer | |
Victor | S-052952 | 10-in. | 4/28/1944 | Someday, I'll meet you again | The Midnighters ; Nilo Sérgio | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | composer | |
Victor | PBS-061665 | 10-in. | 9/17/1941 | Symphonie moderne | Jack Fina ; Freddy Martin Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with piano solo | composer | |
Victor | D3AB-0077 | 10-in. | 5/26/1943 | It can't be wrong | Four Vagabonds | Male vocal quartet | composer | |
Victor | D5VB-0762 | 10-in. | 5/19/1945 | While you're away | Betty Jane Bonney ; Russ Case | Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | composer | |
Victor | D5VB-1120 | 10-in. | 9/5/1945 | As long as I live | Russ Case Orchestra ; Dinah Shore | Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | composer | |
Victor | D6VB-2012 | 10-in. | 2/6/1946 | Tomorrow is forever | Martha Stewart | Female vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | composer | |
Victor | D7VB-0589 | 10-in. | 7/1/1947 | Deep Valley | Tommy Dorsey ; Tommy Dorsey Orchestra | Male vocal solo, with vocal ensemble and jazz/dance band | composer | |
Victor | D7VC-7445 | 12-in. | 9/30/1947 | Themes from Gone with the wind | Al Goodman Orchestra | Instrumental ensemble | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Steiner, Max," accessed October 31, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/104726.
Steiner, Max. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved October 31, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/104726.
"Steiner, Max." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 31 October 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Max Steiner
Discogs: Max Steiner
Allmusic: Max Steiner
RILM: Max Steiner
IMDb: Max Steiner
Britannica: Max Steiner
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Steiner, Max, 1888-1971 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n84184888
Wikidata: Max Steiner - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q350704
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/69116909
MusicBrainz: Max Steiner - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/e466fb04-0175-4875-bb39-f50200b66805
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
Feedback
Send the Editors a message about this record.