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Finding Aid for the Herschel Burke Gilbert Collection of Motion
Picture and Television Music 1946-1969
268-M
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Title: Herschel Burke Gilbert Collection of Motion Picture and
Television Music,
Date (inclusive): 1946-1969
Collection number: 268-M
Creator: Gilbert, Herschel
Burke
Extent:
143 boxes
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library.
Performing Arts Special Collections
Los Angeles, California 90095-1490
Abstract: The collection consists of manuscript scores
(holographs or copies) and open reel tapes of music composed by Herschel Gilbert
for television series and motion pictures, and includes some related materials
such as parts, cues, lyrics sheets, and sketches.
[Identification of item], Herschel Burke Gilbert Collection of Motion Picture
and Television Music, 268-M, Performing Arts Special Collections, University of
California, Los Angeles.
Gift of The Gilbert Family Trust of 1989-Survivor's Trust (Gertrude Gilbert;
Toby G. Bernstein)
Herschel Burke Gilbert was born in 1918 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Following
early studies on the violin, he attended Milwaukee State Teachers College, then
the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied conducting with Albert Stoessel
and composition with Bernard Wagenaar and Vittorio Giannini. In 1942 he came to
Hollywood from New York to work as a violist and arranger for the Harry James
Orchestra, during which time he also studied with composer Ernst Toch. In the
mid-'40s he began orchestrating and arranging for Dmitri Tiomkin (It's a
Wonderful Life) and other studio composers, then going on to compose his own
music for a number of feature films in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. He was
nominated for three Academy Awards: "The Thief" (1952; score); "The Moon is
Blue" (1953; title song); and "Carmen Jones" (1954; score for a musical).
Additional film scores included "Mr. District Attorney" (1947), "The Jackie
Robinson Story" (1950), "The Bold and the Brave" (1956), "Slaughter on Tenth
Avenue" (1957), and many others. Around 1951 he started composing for
television, the medium for which he is perhaps best remembered. In 1958 he
joined Dick Powell's Four Star Television company later becoming the company's
Executive Music Director. Of particular note from this period is his title theme
and music for "The Rifleman" television series. Other series for which he
composed scores or themes included "Wanted: Dead or Alive", "Johnny Ringo",
"Burke's Law", "Gunsmoke", "Gilligan's Island", and "The Big Valley", among
others. He became music director for CBS Television Network in 1964 and retired
in 1966, forming Laurel Records, a label focusing on the music of contemporary
composers. In the course of his career, he served as President of the Film Music
Society, the Screen Composers Guild, and the American Society of Music Arrangers
and Composers (ASMAC), and also served with the LA chapters of the National
Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) and the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences.
Predominantly manuscript scores (holographs or copies) of music composed by
Herschel Gilbert for television series and motion pictures, including some
related materials such as parts, cues, lyrics sheets, and sketches.
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1. Projects
- Series 2. Sound Recordings
- Series 3. Cue Sheets
- Series 4. Project Development
- Series 5. Correspondence
- Series 6. Associations & Organizations
- Series 7. Contracts and Agreements
- Series 8. Rights and Royalties
- Series 9. Recording Logs and Catalogs
- Series 10. Performing Rights Societies
- Series 11. Four Star
- Series 12. CBS
- Series 13. Photographs
- Series 14. Financial Papers
- Series 15. Promotional Materials
- Series 16. Clippings
- Series 17. Blank Forms and Stationary
- Series 18. Artwork
- Series 19. Periodicals
- Series 20. Sheet Music
- Series 21. Programs
- Series 22. Moving Image Materials
- Series 23. Gilbert Personal Papers
- Series 129. Star in the Wind
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Film composers--California--Los
Angeles--Archives
Motion Picture
Music--Scores
Music--Manuscripts
Television Music--Scores