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Topic: Michael Kamen has passed away
Hornerfan
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This is terrible news. According to Ford Thaxton in a post over at FSM, Michael Kamen died this morning from a heart attack. He was 55.Mike
posted 11-18-2003 01:12 PM PT (US) PeterK
FishChip
linkI hate saying it because we're all still on earth and Michael Kamen is not, but heaven can look forward to more beautiful music.
Very sad for us to accept his passing.
Here is a recent example of the fellow Mr Kamen was: a lengthy post by Kamen to one of his own message board members... posted just yesterday.
I don't know what else to say except that I miss him already.
[Message edited by PeterK on 11-18-2003]
posted 11-18-2003 01:32 PM PT (US) Foobsie
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We lost a member of our family.
We should not be sad,
for he is now in greener pastures
where music echos without boundaries,
universal and eternal.FoobsZ
posted 11-18-2003 01:59 PM PT (US) SEBULBA
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This is truly sad. He has definately left us with some great memorable music.
posted 11-18-2003 02:05 PM PT (US) franz_conrad
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Favourite score: What Dreams May Come. I hope the choir of angels do a couple of bars of 'Beside You' for his entrance.
posted 11-18-2003 02:05 PM PT (US) Justin
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Man! This is horrible news. This year has been extremely bad about news like this pouring in. May he rest in piece.
posted 11-18-2003 02:10 PM PT (US) Alexborn007
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Rest in peace Mr. Kamen...This is truly sad news, especially after recently reading how bravely he was dealing with multiple sclerosis.
posted 11-18-2003 02:11 PM PT (US) brutus
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This is very sad.
He has left us some beautiful music.
Through it he will live on.
posted 11-18-2003 02:46 PM PT (US) Ed
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I had the pleasure of watching Mr. Kamen conduct the Boston Pops orchestra in a Father's Day 1992 afternoon of film scores. He led the orchestra with great sweeping arm motions that appeared to draw ever-increasing energy and passion from the orchestra. His rendition of "Darth Vader's Theme" ("For all those out there with teenaged daughters," he quipped) should have been recorded: it was fast and furious and seemed more like a tornado of evil than a sinister march. He also presented a suite from "Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves" that surpassed (for me) the soundtrack performance. Most charmingly, he played the Waltz from "Baron Munchausen" - a favorite of mine. He was funny, charming, passionate and intimately connected to his audience. He expended so much energy that he reappeared after the intermission with his hair newly-wet and slicked back against his head.Let's not forget his contributions to albums for Kate Bush, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, David Sanborn and others.
I will miss seeing his usual dedication: "It's all for Sandra, Sasha, and Zoe."
posted 11-18-2003 02:46 PM PT (US) Steve Hughes
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I'm devastated...Michael Kamen has been my favourite composer for the last 15 years, ever since I heard his breathtaking score to Die Hard. I also had the honour and pleasure of meeting him several times. He was a truly wonderful guy. The last time I met him was at a Band of Brothers scoring session in London. He couldn't have been more approachable and down-to-earth, and we stayed and chatted after the session for ages - it was a brilliant, memorable day.
As an aspiring filmmaker, it saddens me that I will never get to work with him; and as a film music fan, it saddens me that there will me no more beautiful music.
Steve
posted 11-18-2003 02:48 PM PT (US) jonathan_little
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This is very sad news to hear.RIP.
posted 11-18-2003 02:54 PM PT (US) Dylan
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Immensely sad news. He was so young, and still had so much to offer to the music world. It just doesn't seem real to me that he's dead...In Silence,
Dylanposted 11-18-2003 03:01 PM PT (US) HadrianD
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Man, this sucks. His music has always struck a chord in me. I will miss him.
posted 11-18-2003 03:48 PM PT (US) Mark Olivarez
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This is truly sad. My heart goes out to his family. He will be missed.
posted 11-18-2003 03:59 PM PT (US) Lancelot
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oh my god, no...
posted 11-18-2003 04:33 PM PT (US) Crono/Kyp
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May the winds take his soul to heaven where he can keep composing...we will hear his music in the wind forever.[Message edited by Crono/Kyp on 11-18-2003]
posted 11-18-2003 04:34 PM PT (US) scoreguy16
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This is terrible news. I loved his music! The theme from Robin Hood is a theme I'll never forget. A great man, very easy to talk to. Rest in peace...Clayton
posted 11-18-2003 04:40 PM PT (US) Jeron
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This is certainly sad and unexpected news. Kamen was a wonderful composer whose talent will be missed greatly. Man, how horrible.
posted 11-18-2003 04:46 PM PT (US) Dave
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A very sad day indeed. His spirit will live on forever in his beautiful music.NP - Band of Brothers
posted 11-18-2003 04:48 PM PT (US) Maestro Sartori
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I join hundreds of others in giving voice to my sorrow at the loss of one of music's most powerful and underrated voices.Michael Kamen was not just a moviemusic composer. Yes, we all knew his familiar strains of the Robin Hood Theme (every time we watch a Morgan Creek Production, we'll hear this and remember), and his work on Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, and Mr. Holland's Opus, but he was also a brilliant concert composer, having arranged a suite of work with David Sanborn.
Mr. Kamen also worked with great rock bands, such as Pink Floyd on the epic "The Wall," Queensryche on their 1989 hit "Silent Lucidity" and "Real World" (from Last Action Hero) Aerosmith's 1991 live recording of "Dream On" (featured also on the Last Action Hero soundtrack), and Metallica's smash concert "S&M".
Michael Kamen has enabled the grand sweep of music to cross all boundaries, from the rock stage, to the orchestra pit, to the film screen. For that, I can say that I will always be thankful, and remember his work fondly. He was also a charitable man, who fought to keep music in schools so that children could grow up with the same opportunities afforded him...that of becoming a great musician.
J.C.
[Message edited by Maestro Sartori on 11-18-2003]
posted 11-18-2003 05:49 PM PT (US) Timmer
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Sad, very very sad!
posted 11-18-2003 05:57 PM PT (US) Marian Schedenig
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Oh my...
posted 11-18-2003 06:07 PM PT (US) John F
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I am devastated by this news... when I initially read it I thought it was a terrible joke... Kamen is truly one of the great modern masters of music. His concertos and symphonies are truly poetic... nothing puts a smile on my face more then when I turn up his sax concerto with Sanborn. I have been a fan since a very early age, and though I have never had the pleasure or good fortune to meet him I always felt like I did know him- from everything I read about him and the posts I read over at his web site he seems to be one of the nicest and generous music artists in the industry. My heart breaks a bit over this...
John F
posted 11-18-2003 06:28 PM PT (US) SBD
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I won't lie to you: Michael Kamen wasn't on my list of favorite composers (i.e. he wasn't at all bad, but I wouldn't rank him with Silvestri, Goldsmith, etc.), but this is truly a shock, and he left behind some great music:Die Hard (I especially like "Gruber's Departure")
Hudson Hawk (the main theme - "Leonardo" - is terrific)
X-Men (not a perfect score, but full of fine moments, like the piano at the beginning of "Death Camp" and the X-Men theme in "The X-Jet")
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (the "Overture" is such a stirring piece of music)Also, I can't forget his comedy scores. Given the delightful music he wrote for "Nothing But Trouble" and "Splitting Heirs", it's a wonder he didn't do more in the genre.
I'm very sorry that I'm not better at eulogizing.
[Message edited by SBD on 11-18-2003]
posted 11-18-2003 06:50 PM PT (US) Dr. Lao
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I don't like the way life works, it's a kind of 'alea jacta est'. I've always enjoyed Mr. Kamen's music. This man wrote Highlander and now he, still young, dies.I hope some dignity from the labels when releasing his work. Only Varese provided a proper and decent pressing. Kamen deserves more than 30 minutes and an 'in memorian' inscription.
NP. The immortal music of Highlander
posted 11-18-2003 07:25 PM PT (US) piero2
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God Bless you Mr. Kamen. A composer can never truly die, for the music he has left behind will echo in our hearts and minds forever. Thank you for sharing with us all. piero2
posted 11-18-2003 07:44 PM PT (US) Hector J. Guzman
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I think he's the first top film composer to die since I can remember, at least from the time I've been a fan of film music, although Miklós Rósza died in 1995, I did not know him at the time, and I don't know if he was stiff an active composer, at least in cinema. So, I guess Michael Kamen is the first one, for me at least. As everyone has said before me, this is so sad.[Message edited by Hector J. Guzman on 11-18-2003]
posted 11-18-2003 08:34 PM PT (US) Al
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Shocked and speechless.
posted 11-18-2003 08:44 PM PT (US) Bond1965
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While I always loved Michael Kamen for his powerful orchestral film scores there are songs that I also love that would not have affected me so much had he not done the orchestral arrangements on them.Some have been mentioned in other posts but in particular I wish you all to see out his beautful arrangements for Kate Bush.
The "Hounds of Love" album is particularly wonderful, but also listen to two haunting songs from "The Sensual World": "The Fog" with it's haunting cello solo and "This Woman's Work" with it's simple, yet moving arrangement.
Not only the world of film music suffered a great loss today, but also the concert halls and the rock world.
My deepest sympathy to Mr. Kamen's family, friends and loved ones.
James Carrocino
P.S. I'll never forget his string arrangement on the Eurythmics' "Here Comes The Rain Again." One of my all time favorite pieces of pop music.
posted 11-18-2003 08:57 PM PT (US) James
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How terrible...it seems unbelievable. We've lost a great talent, and a great human being too, it seems.Kirk
NP - Band of Brothersposted 11-18-2003 09:02 PM PT (US) nightwing
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Wow. He definitely will be missed. Like many of you, he was one of my favorite composers. To try to list his accomplishments would be impossible. We will definitely miss him.
posted 11-18-2003 09:18 PM PT (US) John Zimmer
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Definatly one of the finest composers in the bussiness. We shall miss him.Jz
posted 11-19-2003 05:23 AM PT (US) Widescreen
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What can I say that hasn't already been said. As much as I have Kamen's popular scores, I've still yet to listen to Brazil, The Dead Zone, etc. Which leads me to conclude that this composer left a legacy. We should all be so lucky to leave something like that behind in our lives, whatever we do from now until judgment day.Many of the composers we revere here are getting on in age, and with recent examples such as Goldsmith having health issues, it reminds me- unkind a fact as it is- that, someday, those I listen to won't be making anymore music because they're gone.
It's been said silence is golden. In this case, I don't think it is.
posted 11-19-2003 06:14 AM PT (US) reza
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NP "A Quiet Evening by the Fire" Lethal Weapon 3, sad music...
posted 11-19-2003 06:24 AM PT (US) Bryan T
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I can't say much more than what's already been said, but Mr. Kamen was a real talent. He will be greatly missed, but also greatly remembered.R.I.P. Mr. Kamen
posted 11-19-2003 06:44 AM PT (US) nightwing
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As my brother said when I told him the sad news, wouldn't it be a great tribute if his fantastic score "Open Range" won Best Score this year?
posted 11-19-2003 07:21 AM PT (US) juha
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The news crushed me. Rest in peace Michael.Juha
posted 11-19-2003 07:27 AM PT (US) Quill
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I'm with you Nightwing....his blissful theme for Open Range will take on a more sentimental value for me now.Here's to greener pastures Mr. Kamen.
posted 11-19-2003 07:36 AM PT (US) workaluk
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When i saw this post,i just felt like i lost someone of my family...
And in some rather peculiar way,that's true,because we (Movie Music lovers),are all a big family,composers and fans,it's strange but true.So Mr.Kamen,we will always remember you in your magnificent scores.......
That's his legacy to us,and what better legacy could that be....
I've decided that until the end of the week,i'm going to take a listen to all his scores that i have,in a sort of tribute to him......
NP-Dead Zone-MICHAEL KAMEN
Nuno Cunha
posted 11-19-2003 07:44 AM PT (US) TV's Frank
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I wonder what Edward Shearmur would have to say about his passing, I know he was Kamen's apprentice for a while and was very grateful for that time and experience.
posted 11-19-2003 08:37 AM PT (US) Old Infopop Software by UBB