Stanley Myers

Stanley Myers, who got his start in television with such series as Z-Cars and Doctor Who, was a fairly prolific and highly versatile composer who could score gentle classic moods as easily as rousing action sequences. He is perhaps best known for his music for The Deer Hunter, particularly the moving “Cavatina” (which has been repeatedly covered), but he is also notable for scoring a series of films directed by Nicholas Roeg, with the score album for Insignificance being very much in demand since its release. Myers’ first feature composing credit was for 1966′s Kaleidoscope, with Ulysses following in 1967. As of 1968, though, he had a foothold in the movie business, working on films on either side of the Atlantic at an amazing pace. By the time of his death from cancer in 1993, he had more than a hundred film and television scoring credits to his name. In addition, he wrote a fair amount of music for venues other than film. In the early 1980s, he acquired Hans Zimmer as an assistant, eventually collaborating with him on several scores. Though stricken with cancer, he continued composing almost until the day he died, with his final score being for the TV-movie version of Heart of Darkness, once again directed by Nicholas Roeg. The film was aired on TNT in the U.S. ~ Steven McDonald