John Corigliano Photo by Julian Kreeger courtesy G. Schirmer

John Corigliano Wins Oscar for Best Original Score

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Composer John Corigliano recently won an Academy Award for his music for The Red Violin by Canadian filmmaker François Girard. This is the second Academy Award nomination for John Corigliano; he was previously nominated in 1980 for Altered States.

In his acceptance speech, Corigliano noted the differences between the film industry and the classical music community: "I'm from another world of classical music...and when I write my symphonies and my concertos it's a very lonely profession...and one thing I've learned about film writing is how communal it is...and the reason people give thanks is because there are so many people that had so much to do with this film and with the music."

He went on to thank the violinist Joshua Bell: "...then you have to go to the voice of the violin and say, you know, you could write all the notes you want, but if someone doesn't play them like a god, they'll never sound that way... and Joshua Bell, the great violinist, played them like a god. thank you, Josh."

The Red Violin chronicles the journey of a legendary musical instrument--a violin famous for its unusual reddish hue. Placed on the auction block in modern-day Montreal, after traveling around the globe for over three-hundred years, the violin comes to the attention of expert Charles Morritz, who mounts an investigation to authenticate the enigmatic instrument and establish its true worth.

Other nominees this year in the category of Best Original Score were: Thomas Newman for American Beauty; John Williams for Angela’s Ashes; Rachel Portman for The Cider House Rules; and Gabriel Yared for The Talented Mr. Ripley.