Carmine Coppola

For the Italian footballer see Carmine Coppola (footballer)

Carmine Coppola (born June 11, 1910 in New York City, died April 26, 1991 in Northridge, CA) was an American composer, editor, musical director, and songwriter. Coppola was a composer and conductor who contributed to many of the musical scores in The Godfather, Part II and Apocalypse Now.

[edit] History

Coppola is the father of August and Francis Ford Coppola and Talia Shire and grandfather of Nicolas Cage and Sofia Coppola. His wife, Italia Coppola, died in 2004 in Los Angeles.

Coppola played the flute. He studied at Juilliard and later at the Manhattan School of Music. During the 1940s, Coppola worked under Arturo Toscanini with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Then in 1951, Coppola left the Orchestra to pursue his dream of composing music. During that time he mostly worked as an orchestra conductor on Broadway and elsewhere, working with his son, legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, on additional music for his Finian's Rainbow. Later, his son called him to provide additional music for The Godfather Part II. Together with Nino Rota, Carmine composed music for The Godfather Part II, for which they won Oscars for Best Score. Carmine then scored Francis' Apocalypse Now, for which he won a Golden Globe award for best original score. He also composed three and a half hour score for Francis' 1981 reconstruction of Abel Gance's 1921 epic Napoleon.

Upon his death, Coppola's grandson Robert Schwartzman changed his last name to 'Carmine' in his grandfather's honor.

The Godfather Part III (1990, Composer (Music Score) / Musical Direction/Supervision)
The Freshman (1990, Songwriter)
New York Stories (Composer (Music Score) / Actor: Street Musician))
Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988, Composer (Music Score) / Songwriter)
Blood Red (1989, Composer (Music Score))
Gardens of Stone (1987, Composer (Music Score))
The Outsiders (1983, Editor/Composer (Music Score))
Apocalypse Now (1979, Composer (Music Score))
The Black Stallion (1979, Composer (Music Score))
The Godfather Part II (1974, Conductor / Composer (Music Score) / Musical Direction/Supervision)
The People (1971, Composer (Music Score))
Tonight for Sure (1979, Composer (Music Score) / Musical Direction/Supervision)