- Born
- Died
- Nickname
- Teddy
- Respected composer and teacher, educated at the Cherubini Royal
Institute of Music. He studied with Ildrebrando Pizzetti and Edgardo
del Valle de Paz. It is generally thought that Mario
Castelnuovo-Tedesco actually composed more film music than he is
credited with, and that he was often called upon to ghost-write film
music for other composers who were under time constraints or had other
difficulties completing their assignments.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Hup234! - Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was born in Florence, Italy. Although a
talented pianist at a young age, his father had ambitions for him to
enter the world of banking - but eventually relented so that Mario
could pursue his own ambitions. After completing his studies, he was
beginning to establish a good reputation in his homeland and had made
the acquaintance of several important composers and musicians,
including Manuel de Falla, Arturo Toscanini, Andres Segovia and Jascha
Heifetz; but the events leading up to World War 2 intervened. Mario
Castelnuovo-Tedesco's family were Sephardic Jews, and although at that
time he had not paid great attention to those traditions himself, the
rise and spread of fascism led to the authorities cancelling
performances of his works. As conditions deteriorated, his friends
helped make arrangements and with his young family he was smuggled out
of Italy and onwards to the United States, arriving shortly before the
outbreak of war in Europe.
With the benefit of introductions from his influential friends, plus
his own natural musical talent, he was able to gain a job among the
music staff at MGM Studios. Once there he began to flourish, although
was disappointed by the lack of recognition he felt music frequently
suffered - with the visual parts of a movie often making it extremely
challenging to develop a strong musical theme. However, while his
fellow composers worked slowly with pencil and eraser, Mario worked
quickly and accurately with ink. Nevertheless, the tradition continued
that credit was given not to the actual composer, but often to an
"old-timer" who may have had very little input.
After setting up home in Beverley Hills, California, Mario began to
work as a busy freelance composer for any of the studios who required
his services. He was also teaching music theory and composition. When
the US entered the war, as an Italian Mario found his movements
restricted. However, this was no great hardship, as his pupils and
friends were happy to visit him at his home during that time. Among his
pupils were many of the most important names from the next generation
of soundtrack composers - including
John Williams,
Jerry Goldsmith and
Henry Mancini.
In parallel to his work on movies and in teaching, he continued to
write many serious compositions for classical performance in the
concert hall. His two piano concertos and two violin concertos date
from when he was still resident in Italy, as does his first guitar
concerto (Op.99); but he wrote his second guitar concerto (Op.160) and
his concerto for two guitars (Op.201) while in the US, along with other
orchestral works and many chamber and solo pieces for various
instruments. His contribution to the repertoire for classical guitar is
especially noteworthy, with many beautiful and finely crafted works
which continue to be regularly performed and recorded.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Pete Jinks
- Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Guitar Concerto No.1 in D, Op.99 was completed in 1938 and dedicated to Andres Segovia. It was the first modern guitar concerto, being published and performed just a few months prior to the arrival of Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. Before these two works, the last guitar concerto published was more than 100 years earlier.
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