Henry Mancini was born on April 16, 1924. I'm of mixed feelings towards his compositions. On one hand, he was fantastic at creating accessible and memorable tunes. The themes from Peter Gunn, the Pink Panter, Romeo and Juliet, and Moon River are all classics of the cinematic genre. They elegantly and powerfully express the mood of the movie. In my imagination, I can see Audrey Hepburn on her window or Peter Sellers bumbling along whenever I hear these tunes. That's the result of pure compositional brilliance.
On the other hand, I don't feel that he was very good at creating quality cinematic scores as a whole. It's as if he would spend his creative genius composing a single "highlight" piece, leaving the rest of the score to rely on repetitions of the theme and mood reinforcing "fluff" works. Now, nothing's wrong with pleasant "fluff" but it certainly isn't the sign of high artistry. Mancini was too talented to get a pass on "mailing in" the incidental music.
In sum, Mancini was like a poet who specializes in short works, such as sonnets ot haiku. However, his genre required the skills for long works, odes and epics. Nevertheless, I'm grateful for his music.
Here's a link to his Wikipedia page.
And here's the divine Audrey:
Enjoy!!!
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