Stanley Myers

English composer Stanley Myers is best known for his many film and television scores. From 1958 to 1993 Myers wrote music for 130 film and television projects, among them The Deer Hunter (1978), The Border (1979), and six episodes in 1964 from the popular English TV series Doctor Who. Without doubt, the most famous music Myers ever wrote was his Cavatina for guitar (1970), which appeared in several guises, most memorably as the title theme in The Deer Hunter. On several occasions Myers collaborated with composer Hans Zimmer, as in the scores to Moonlighting (1982) and Success Is the Best Revenge (1984). Throughout the 1970s and '80s Myers was one of those ubiquitous names listed in the credits of countless film and television productions: when he wasn't providing the music, he often served as conductor (Eureka; 1984) or music supervisor (The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz; 1974). In some cases he was both composer and conductor of the film music, as in The Night of the Following Day (1968) and The Great Riviera Bank Robbery. Myers' output also includes many songs and arrangements for big band ensembles. Stanley Myers was born in Edgbaston, England, on October 6, 1930. He studied at Oxford University and by the early ‘50s was active as a songwriter and music director for musicals. His first work in films was a collaborative effort with Reg Owen on the 1958 English movie Murder Reported. After a gap of six years he returned to film scoring with Diary of a Young Man (1964) and six episodes of Doctor Who. Myers demonstrated a boldly chameleonic style in 1967 with his colorful score for the popular film Ulysses. By 1970 he was regarded among the leading English composers for film. That year he produced his famous Cavatina, which was first presented in The Walking Stick (1970) in a version by guitarist John Williams. To this day, the Cavatina, in one arrangement or other, remains the dominant work by far in the sizable discography of Myers' works. Throughout the 1970s and '80s, Myers worked prolifically, but gradually turned more and more toward television. Six of his last seven scores were for television, Sarafina (1992), starring Whoopi Goldberg, was his last big screen effort. His final two scores, Middlemarch and Heart of Darkness, were not released until 1994. Myers died in London from cancer on November 9, 1993.