Laurence Rosenthal - Veteran Composer for Television and Film

Born in Detroit, Laurence Rosenthal cites Chopin and Korngold as two composers who had made a big impression upon him. He learned to play the piano from his mother and then studied piano and composition formally at the Eastman School of Music and then again with Nadia Boulanger at the Paris Conservatoire. During the years of the Korean War he composed band music for the armed forces, and continued his musical career in the Air Force composing for their Documentary Film Unit. He conducted his scores with the large US Air Force Symphony Orchestra. This gave Rosenthal some great practical experience which led quite naturally after the war into a career composing for stage, television and film. Among his television music is his work with George Lucas on "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" (winning numerous Emmy awards), and several dramatic mini series such as "Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna" and "Peter the Great". His film work resulted in two Oscar nominations, for "Becket" (Original Score) and "Man of La Mancha" (Original Song Score or Adaptation). Meanwhile Rosenthal has continued to write for the Concert Hall and his compositions for this outlet are highly regarded.

Films by Laurence Rosenthal:

• The Miracle Worker
• The Comedians - set on Haiti with Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Alec Guinness, there is a strong percussion drive and a Caribbean feel to the music
• Becket - oscar nominated
• Hotel Paradiso
• Man of La Mancha - with director Peter Glenville with whom he worked extensively on stage productions
• Rooster Cogburn
• The Return of a Man Called Horse - confusingly, given their similar names, the original film "A Man Called Horse" had music by Leonard Rosenman
• Meteor
• Clash of the Titans

TV music by Laurence Rosenthal:

• Mannix - for which Lalo Schifrin did the theme music
• Fantasy Island
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
• Logan's Run
• Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna
• Peter the Great
• Mussolini: The Untold Story - mini series
• The Bourne Identity - not the film but the TV series with Richard Chamberlain

Recommendations:

There are a few Laurence Rosenthal soundtracks available including the following recommendations:

• Man of La Mancha - from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
• Clash of the Titans - from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com