Richard Band

Infobox musical artist
Name = Richard Band

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Background = non_performing_personnel
Birth_name = Richard Howard Band
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Born = Birth date and age|1953|12|28
Los Angeles, California, USA
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Genre = Film score
Occupation = Composer
Instrument = Guitar, Synthesizer
Years_active = 1978–present
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URL = http://www.richardbandmusic.com/

Richard Howard Band is a composer of film music. He has scored more than 70 films, including From Beyond, which won the award for Best Original Soundtrack at the Catalonian International Film Festival in Sitges Spain. His score for Re-Animator was lauded by the magazine Music From the Movies, which said, "Band’s music is dark and direct, creating an intense and eerie atmosphere, but always with a humorous touch.... Surely, Richard Band is one of the most underrated composers in the film business." [ [http://www.musicfromthemovies.com/review.asp?ID=1833 Re-Animator - Music from the Movies ] ]

Since 2000, Band has done few films, though he has scored episodes of such television shows as Stargate SG-1, . He also developed the campaign music for many shows on the WB, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Smallville. [ [http://www.richardbandmusic.com/biog-2.html Richard Band Film Music - Biography ] ]

Band is the son of the cult film director Albert Band, and the brother of director Charles Band. [ [http://www.moviemusicuk.us/band.htm Movie Music UK - Richard Band ] ] He has a nephew Alex Band, and a niece, Taryn Band.

Career

Since the late 1970s Band has been composing film music for horror and science fiction films regularly. His first notable score was for 1977's Laserblast, which he co-composed with Joel Goldsmith (son of famed composer Jerry Goldsmith). By the mid-80's Band was renowned for scoring horror films by employing strong, memorable and often very melodic themes. Films like Mutant (aka Night Shadows), The Alchemist, The House on Sorority Row, Ghostwarrior, Troll and The Day Time Ended all feature beautiful and lyrical themes that seem to operate as the antithesis of the genre for which the films were produced. As Band explains in the liner notes for the La-La-Land Records release of Laserblast, he believes film scores should exist “to add the third dimension to a two-dimensional medium.”
From Beyond, Band's second collaboration with Stuart Gordon following 1985's Re-Animator (performed by the Rome Philharmonic Orchestra) is considered a horror classic within the film score circle, featuring odd tonalities and creative, otherworldly orchestration. He’d later go on to score Gordon’s subsequent films such as The Pit and the Pendulum and 1995’s Castle Freak, the later of which featured some inventive writing for a string quartet. 1994's Shrunken Heads (on which he collaborated with Danny Elfman) features big band jazz music, while Dragonworld, Paramount's kid-friendly fantasy film of the same year pitted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra against a plethora of folksy,Celtic and ethnic influences.Since around 1990 onward Band's work has declined in regularity and scope. Today he works primarily in television, with sparse film projects coming his way. In 2006 he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his work on the television series, Masters of Horror.

Notable works

* The Day Time Ended (1980)- Performed by the London Studio Orchestra.
* (1983)- Action score performed with a 75-piece symphony orchestra accompanied by seven live keyboardists and electronics performers.
* The House on Sorority Row (1983)- Performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
* Mutant (aka Night Shadows)- Performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra of London.
* Re-Animator (1985)- Performed by the Rome Philharmonic Orchestra.
* The Dungeonmaster (1985)- Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
* The Alchemist (1986)- Performed by the Rome Philharmonic Orchestra.
* Troll (1986)- Performed by the Rome Philharmonic Orchestra and featuring a full choir throughout.
* Ghost warrior (1986)- Performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with prominent use of Asian percussion.
* From Beyond (1986)- Performed by the Arkham Philharmonic Orchestra.
* The Pit and the Pendulum (1991)- Full orchestra score featuring a full choir and period-authentic percussion throughout.
* The Resurrected (1992)- Full orchestra score.
* Shrunken Heads (1994)- Big band jazz score, main theme co-composed by Danny Elfman.
* Dragonworld (1994)- Celtic-influenced score performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
*My Horrible Year! (2001)- Full orchestra score for Eric Stoltz-directed family film.
*Home of the Brave (2004)- Full orchestra score for 2004 documentary.

References

External links

* http://www.richardbandmusic.com/
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