Víctor Young
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Victor Popular Young (August 8, 19001 – November 10, 1956) was an American composer, arranger, violinist, and conductor. He stood out for his work in the cinema as a composer of soundtracks.
Considered one of the most influential musicians in Hollywood, Victor Young came to the world of cinema after some absolutely bizarre beginnings. As he was the son of Polish emigrants and mastered the language of his parents, they decided to send him to Europe, thinking about his early musical education. He studied at the Warsaw Conservatory and soon accredited great musical gifts, surprising his teachers, who witnessed a brilliant career that led him in full adolescence to be the first violin of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.
After the busy European journey, Young decides to settle in Los Angeles, where he gains fame as a violinist. Attracted by the world of cinema, he tries his luck in the orchestra that Paramount has on staff to interpret the soundtracks of its productions. To everyone's surprise, Young began composing and arranging scores, and he did so with such ease that he has gone down in film history as one of the most prolific musicians.
His professional resume includes around three hundred and fifty compositions and arrangements. His musical ability was best used by director Cecil Blount de Mille, for whom Young composed unforgettable soundtracks such as Canadian Mounted Police and Samson and Delilah. However, Victor Young is best known for being the author of several western melodies without which it is difficult to explain the musical conventions of the genre: Johnny Guitar, Deep Roots and Rio Grande, among others.
Although he devised soundtracks of unquestionable interest, in the case of The Quiet Man, he only won an Oscar, which was awarded posthumously, for Around the World in 80 Days, his cinematographic testament.
Victor Young died in 1956 in Palm Springs, California, after suffering a brain hemorrhage. He was 56 years old. He was buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood. His family donated his memorabilia and artifacts (Oscar included) to Brandeis University, where they are kept today.
Young was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his recording activity at 6363 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1970 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Additionally, he won two Emmys, one in 1950 for September Affair, and one in 1954 for Light's Diamond Jubilee.