May, Brian - The Brian May Collection [CD]

One thing these films have in common is the music of Brian May. All of Antony I. Ginnane's horror/supernatural thrillers from this time period were scored by Brian May. For PATRICK, May composed a lush-sounding symphonic score supported by ARP synthesizer. His score for SNAPSHOT mixes dramatic orchestral music, with sublime romantic music and a fair amount of contemporary modern jazz. HARLEQUIN was scored for a variety of atonal motifs for strings, piano, and percussion, giving thematic unity through a lush, string-based love theme. THE SURVIVOR is arguably May's most Herrmannesque score, opening with a main theme that recalls Herrmann's Hitchcock collaborations. Born in Adelaide in 1934, Brian May (no relation to Brian Harold May of Queen) was one of the first composers to achieve international acclaim as an Australian composer and was best known as the composer of MAD MAX and THE ROAD WARRIOR (MAD MAX II). Moving into film music in a period of time when Australia's film industry was just beginning to take it's place among international film circles, May composed such notable film scores as RACE FOR THE YANKEE ZEPHYR, ROAD GAMES, CLOAK AND DAGGER, DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR, MISSING IN ACTION 2, SKY PIRATES, STEEL DAWN, DR. GIGGLES, FREDDY'S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHT MARE and BLINDSIDE. He won the Australian Film Institute Award for best original score with MAD MAX; many other awards followed, including the Golden Award from the Australian Performing Rights Association. He continued to score films until 1993, composing music for more than 30 films and many hours of television, most of which he orchestrated himself. Sadly, the composer passed away in 1997 at the age of 63.