Leo Arnaud

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Leo Arnaud
Birth name Noël Leon Marius Arnaud [1]
Born July 24, 1904
Lyon, France
Died April 26, 1991
Hamptonville, North Carolina, USA
Genre(s) Film scores
Occupation(s) arranger, composer, and orchestrator
Instrument(s) Trombone
Years active 1930s-1960s

Leo Arnaud or Léo Arnaud (July 24, 1904 - April 26, 1991) (IPA: [ˈleɪ.oʊ ɑɹ.ˈnoʊ]) was a French-American composer of film scores, best known for scoring Bugler's Dream, which is used as the theme for the Olympic Games.

The composer studied composition at conservatories in Lyon and Paris with Maurice Ravel and Vincent d'Indy.[2] After playing as a jazz trombonist in France using the name of Leo Vauchant and arranging for the Jack Hylton band in England from 1928 to 1930, he emigrated to the United States in 1931. He worked in Hollywood as an arranger for Fred Waring before joining MGM as an arranger, composer, and orchestrator from 1936-1966.

In 1980, Arnaud left Hollywood and retired to Yadkin County, North Carolina. His wife, Faye Brooks Arnaud, was a native of the area. He is buried at Asbury United Methodist Church in Hamptonville, North Carolina.[3]

Contents

[edit] Bugler's Dream

 Audio samples:

Bugler's Dream is very well-known, especially by Americans, solely due to its continuous use in ABC's and later NBC's television coverage of the Olympics. Arnaud's piece is very stately, beginning with a timpani cadence that is soon joined by a distinctive theme in brass. It is easily associable as one of the Olympic symbols

Arnaud was commissioned by composer Felix Slatkin to create a piece for his album Charge! in 1958. For this, he wrote "The Charge Suite" which had Bugler's Dream in it. It was published by Shawnee Press, Inc.. The piece was heard by ABC representatives in 1968, and they wanted to use it for their television coverage of the Olympics. That year it was negotiated and used as the theme for the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble and in future Olympics. It was also used as the title piece for the series ABC's Wide World of Sports. When NBC began airing the Olympics in 1992, Bugler's Dream continued to be used for the television theme.

For the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, composer John Williams wrote "Olympic Fanfare and Theme," which was attached to the end of Bugler's Dream and was also included as the theme.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Awards

Arnaud was nominated for one Oscar. It was for the The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) at the 37th Academy Awards, presented in 1965

[edit] References

  1. ^ De Jong, Diederik C.D. (Jan-Feb 1996). "Arnaud: Symphonie Francaise, Latin American Scenario, Midinette, In Memoriam, Well Tempered Oboist, Bugler's Dream.". American Record Guide: 71. 
  2. ^ Leo Arnaud at Answers.com
  3. ^ "Hamptonville News," by Frieda Hall, The Tribune (Elkin, North Carolina), August 24, 2004

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Arnaud, Leo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Arnaud, Léo; Vauchant, Leo; Arnaud, Noël Leon Marius
SHORT DESCRIPTION French-American composer of Bugler's Dream
DATE OF BIRTH July 24, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Lyon, France
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 1991)
PLACE OF DEATH Hamptonville, North Carolina