Rozsa has always been my greatest love.  A guilty love, for he was not one
of the greatest composers.  But I'm a sucker for his Hungarian flavor, his
imitative counterpoint, his sense of melody, his affection for the mediant
chord, and his unabashed preference for the dramatic over the cerebral.
Any one of these virtues can become a defect when in excess in some of his
scores.  In my own compositions, I've had to excise a lot of him!

But I'll never forget my first viewing of Ben Hur in Hollywood only a few
days after the premiere.  Operatically, the overture was played before the
closed curtains in the huge theater.  What an excitement!  I still think
of its score, along with the Violin Concerto, as among his best works.
The "Christ" or "God" motive still sends shivers down my spine.  Imagine
how surpised I was, however, to hear Takemitsu make extensive use of it in
his "From me flows what you call Time"!  Takemitsu should have given Rozsa
credit.

Clearly, Rozsa owed a lot to Bartok, Wagner, Korngold and others who
forged the classic style for cinema, one which is pretty much giving way
now to pure "mood" over the other elements of musical substance.  Witness
Badalamenti's music for "Mulholland Drive" which mostly consists of
obtrusively ominous chords and little else.

Rozsa's life was an honorable and faithful one, more so than those lives
of many who criticized "movie music" from the stance of the Modernist on
high.  I am grateful that his memory is recalled on these pages.

Jeff Dunn
[log in to unmask]
Alameda, CA