Jerry Goldsmith, one of the finest Hollywood composers, has passed away. The tone-deaf Motion Picture Academy made sure that this brilliant craftsman won only one Oscar in his forty-year career. Goldsmith's score for Chinatown went a long toward making that movie the masterpiece that it is. The stroke of genius was in juxtaposing the unforgettably moody title theme with various avant-garde devices, notably a lot of strumming and plucking on the strings of four grand pianos. Adventurous as it is, the music is perfectly in keeping with the movie's period setting, Henry Cowell having pioneered inside-the-piano techniques in Northern California in the second decade of the century. There's much else to remember Goldsmith for: his sure hand will be missed.
