Expert: David Froom - 7/31/2006

Question
Hi, David.  Thanks for getting me on the right track on this tune id.  You asked me to let you know when I identified the piece correctly.  I have and you're right, it is from a movie, a Western, but not a spoof.  The title of the song is "Green Leaves of Summer," written by Dimitri Tiomkin in the 50's for the John Wayne film "The Alamo."  Tiomkin was trained in Russia as a classical musician, and the melody itself has a classical feel, but the lyrics, written by a Hollywood lyricist, are far from classical.  The music is often performed as a kind of "pop" instrumental work, and I actually heard it in that form on a classical music station.  I had not seen the film nor heard the song sung with the lyrics, hence my false assumption as to its origin.  Thanks again for your help.  Karen
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Followup To

Question -
David:  Hi!  I need to identify what I believe to be a theme in a classical orchestral work, probably romantic, possible Brahms. Can't find it in web theme searches or in Barlow-Morgenstern's Dictionary of Musical Themes.  I have two friends who recognize it but can't identify it either. Three DJ's I've contacted at classical music stations haven't been able to help me either. Not having an mp3, the best I can do is give you the notes as I hear them, probably transposed.  I seem to hear the first note as C#, but am not sure.  It shouldn't matter melody-wise.   The single dashes indicate phrasing breaks.  The double dash indicates a melodic shift.  In the first of the two melodic segments, the second note in the first three phrases is longer.  In the second of the two melodic segments, the third note of the first three phrases is longer. Here it is(all notes are above middle C unless specified below):  G# (below middle C), C#, D#, C#, C natural, G# (below middle C)  -  G# (below middle C), C#, D#, E, D#, B (below middle C)  -  B(below middle C), E, F#, G natural, F#, C#  -  F#, G natural, D#, G natural, G#  -  -  G#, A, B, A, G#, F#, C#   -  F#, G#, A, G#, F#, E, B (below middle C)  -  E, F#, G#, F#, E, D#, F#, D#, C#, D#, C natural, C#.   I need to identify this melody for professional reasons and would GREATLY appreciate any help you can give me.  Thanks, Karen

Answer -
Karen,
If I have identified the rhythm correctly, I think I've heard this before.  I'm pretty sure it is not from classical music, but rather from movie music. A Western?  Somehow, I think it is from a Western spoof, like Blazing Saddles or Three Amigos or City Slickers.  You might try continuing your search along those lines.  If you get it, let me know!

Good luck,
David Froom

Answer
Glad you found it.

Tiomkin is an interesting guy.  He wrote a lot of "Western" music, including the "Rawhide" TV theme.  It is funny, when you think of it, that most of his tunes sound profoundly "Russian" if you imagine them being sung by a Russian men's choir.  It is a strange twist in music history that when we hear this "Russian" music, we think of the wild west -- and Tiomkin is one of the main reasons we do so.

The really great classical composer credited with an "American" sound is Aaron Copland, a man who grew up in Brooklyn, though he had a Russian immigrant grandfather who ran a dry-goods store in the American west.

There is a whole story to be told about what has been produced in the US by Russian immigrants and their children.

David Froom