For those of you who don't know you know Basil Poledouris's music, let me just say that you probably do but don't know you do.
He passed away, according to the official website, on November 8th. I was a big fan of his grandiose, commanding themes – especially since they were so able to quickly morph into the lightest, lilting, lyrical passages you'd never expect a composer like him to write.
Several of his themes were featured on the great Cincinnati Pops Orchestra CD's (recorded in surround sound, by the way) that Tel-Arc was putting out with Erich Kunzel directing.
For those of you who might not remember, his orchestration got mad props in the industry, especially for his "Conan the Barbarian: The Anvil of Crom" piece. Snicker you may, but for those of you who actually saw the movie as an adult, you'll know that the flick had few words and depended on a long yet layered soundtrack to drive it forward.
And if you stick in the Cincinnati Pops version, it'll rip your speakers a new one. They actually have a warning label on it to make sure you have quality speakers and a sense of where the volume is before going at it. And Basil's track kicks.
It's good stuff, and he was one of the most talented composers out there, the guy who wrote many of the themes that seemed so natural you may not have noticed them.
Watch the tribute. It's worth the ten minutes and is a great quick orchestration put together in his honor. Check out more details at Soundtrack.net.
I think they should play the "The Anvil of Crom" at the funeral. It would do him proper justice after his fight with cancer.
I'd wanna go out to a soundtrack like that.
RIP, Basil.
