Victor young (1899-1956), composer

Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899 – November 10, 1956) was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor.

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Victor Young (Chicago, 1900 – Los Angeles, 1956) American musician who stood out for his work in film as a soundtrack composer. Considered one of the most influential musicians in Hollywood, Victor Young came to the world of cinema after 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 demonstrated great musical gifts, surprising his teachers, who witnessed a brilliant career that led him in his teens to be the first violinist of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.

Until that moment, his career did not suffer any setbacks; but, in 1917, he agreed to go on a concert tour in Russia, in full revolutionary euphoria. Security guarantees were minimal and he, in fact, was arrested.

Everything raised fears for his personal integrity when a Bolshevik officer, admired by his talent, planned the escape of Young, who seemed to be touched by bad luck, because shortly after outwitting the Russian authorities, he was arrested again, this time to Germany. , a country where his presence was not appropriate either. Once again, it was his talent as a violinist that helped him leave prison and head to the United States.

After the busy European journey, Young decided to settle in Los Angeles, where he gained fame as a violinist. Attracted by the world of cinema, he tries his luck in the orchestra that Paramount has on staff to perform the soundtracks of its productions. To everyone’s surprise, Young began to compose and arrange scores, and he did it with such ease that he has gone down in film history as one of the most prolific musicians.

On radio, he was the musical director of The Old Gold Don Ameche Show and Harvest of Stars. He was a musical director for many of Bing Crosby’s recordings for the American branch of Decca Records.

For Decca, he also conducted the first album of songs from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, a sort of “pre-soundtrack” cover version rather than a true soundtrack album. The album featured Judy Garland and the Ken Darby Singers singing songs from the film in Young’s own arrangements. Young often collaborated with Ken Darby and the Singers for radio programs starring the popular Met Opera baritone John Charles Thomsen. He also composed the music for several Decca spoken word albums.

He received 22 Academy Award nominations for his work in film, twice being nominated four times in a single year, but he did not win during his lifetime.

Victor Young received his only Oscar posthumously for his score of Around the World in Eighty Days (1956). Harold Adamson wrote the lyrics to Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Todd’s blessing.

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Adamson could not be nominated, for the words were written two weeks before Oscar night and the votes were in. Yet, theaters around the country played the lyrics at intermission.

Thus, Victor Young holds the record for most Oscar nominations before winning the first award. His other nominated scores include Anything Goes (1936), The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936), Artists and Models (1937), The Gladiator (1938), Golden Boy (1939), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), The Uninvited (1944), Love Letters (1945), So Evil My Love (1948), The Emperor Waltz (1948), The Paleface (1948), Samson and Delilah (1949), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949), Our Very Own (1950), September Affair (1950), My Favorite Spy (1951), Payment on Demand (1951), The Quiet Man (1952), Scaramouche (1952), Something to Live For (1952), Shane (1953), The Country Girl (1954), A Man Alone (1955), The Conqueror (1956) and The Maverick Queen (1956).

He contributed two-tone poems, “White” and “Black”, to the 1956 album Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color.

His last scores were for the 1957 films Omar Khayyam, Run of the Arrow and China Gate, which were released after his death. The last was left unfinished at the time of his death and was finished by his long-time friend Max Steiner.

“The Call of the Faraway Hills”, which Young had composed for the film Shane, was also used as the theme for the U.S. television series Shane. Young won a Primetime Emmy Award for his scoring of the TV special Light’s Diamond Jubilee, which aired on all four American TV networks on October 24, 1954.

As an occasional bit player, Young can be glimpsed briefly in The Country Girl (1954) playing a recording studio leader conducting Bing Crosby while he tapes “The Search is Through (You’ve Got What It Takes).”

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

Year	Film	Category	Result
1939	Breaking the Ice	Best Original Score	Nominated
Army Girl	Best Original Score	Nominated
1940	Man of Conquest	Best Original Score	Nominated
Gulliver’s Travels	Best Original Score	Nominated
Golden Boy	Best Original Score	Nominated
Way Down South	Best Music (Scoring)	Nominated
1941	North West Mounted Police	Best Original Score	Nominated
Dark Command	Best Original Score	Nominated
Arizona	Best Original Score	Nominated
Arise, My Love	Best Music, Score	Nominated
1942	Hold Back the Dawn	Best Scoring of a Dramatic Picture	Nominated
1943	Take a Letter, Darling	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Nominated
Silver Queen	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Nominated
Flying Tigers	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Nominated
1944	For Whom the Bell Tolls	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Nominated
1946	Love Letters	Best Original Song for “Love Letters” (shared with Edward Heyman)	Nominated
Love Letters	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Nominated
1949	The Emperor Waltz	Best Scoring of a Musical Picture	Nominated
1950	My Foolish Heart	Best Original Song for “My Foolish Heart” (shared with Ned Washington)	Nominated
1951	Samson and Delilah	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Nominated
1957	Around the World in 80 Days	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Won
Written on the Wind	Best Original Song for “Written on the Wind” (shared with Sammy Cahn)	Nominated Year	Film
1939	Breaking the Ice	Best Original Score	Nominated
Army Girl	Best Original Score	Nominated
1940	Man of Conquest	Best Original Score	Nominated
Gulliver’s Travels	Best Original Score	Nominated
Golden Boy	Best Original Score	Nominated
Way Down South	Best Music (Scoring)	Nominated
1941	North West Mounted Police	Best Original Score	Nominated
Dark Command	Best Original Score	Nominated
Arizona	Best Original Score	Nominated
Arise, My Love	Best Music, Score	Nominated
1942	Hold Back the Dawn	Best Scoring of a Dramatic Picture	Nominated
1943	Take a Letter, Darling	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Nominated
Silver Queen	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Nominated
Flying Tigers	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Nominated
1944	For Whom the Bell Tolls	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Nominated
1946	Love Letters	Best Original Song for “Love Letters” (shared with Edward Heyman)	Nominated
Love Letters	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Nominated
1949	The Emperor Waltz	Best Scoring of a Musical Picture	Nominated
1950	My Foolish Heart	Best Original Song for “My Foolish Heart” (shared with Ned Washington)	Nominated
1951	Samson and Delilah	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Nominated
1957	Around the World in 80 Days	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture	Won
Written on the Wind	Best Original Song for “Written on the Wind” (shared with Sammy Cahn)	Nominated

Golden Globes

Year	Film	Category	Result
1952	September Affair	Best Original Score	Won
1953	The Quiet Man	Best Original Score	Nominated

Primetime Emmy Awards

Year	Project	Category	Result
1955	Light’s Diamond Jubilee	Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Variety Program	Won
	Medic	Best Original Music Composed for TV	Nominated
	Light’s Diamond Jubilee	Best Original Music Composed for TV	Nominated

Victor Young – Speak To Me Of Love