Alexander Courage

Courage began as an orchestrator / arranger at MGM studios, which included work in such films as the 1951 Show Boat ("Life Upon the Wicked Stage" number), The Band Wagon ("I Guess Ill Have to Change My Plan"), Gigi (the can-can for the entrance of patrons at Maxims), and the barn raising dance from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. He frequently served as an orchestrator on films scored by André Previn (My Fair Lady, the "The Circus is a Wacky World", and "Youre Gonna Hear from Me" production numbers for Inside Daisy Clover), Adolph Deutsch (Funny Face, Some Like It Hot), John Williams (The Poseidon Adventure, Superman, Jurassic Park, and the Academy Award-nominated musical films Fiddler on the Roof and Tom Sawyer), and Jerry Goldsmith (Rudy, Mulan, The Mummy, et al.). Apart from his work as a respected orchestrator, Courage also contributed original dramatic scores to films, including two 1950s westerns: Arthur Penns The Left Handed Gun and André de Toths Day of the Outlaw. He continued writing music for movies throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, including the score for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, which incorporated three new musical themes by John Williams in addition to Courages adapted and original cues for the film. Courages score for Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was released on CD in early 2008 by the Film Music Monthly company as part of its boxed set Superman - The Music. Courage also worked as a composer on such television shows as Daniel Boone, The Brothers Brannagan, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Judd, for the Defense (this was the only television series besides Star Trek for which he composed the main theme). The composer Jerry Goldsmith and Courage teamed on the long-running television show The Waltons in which Goldsmith composed the theme and Courage the Aaron Copland-influenced incidental music. In 1988 Courage won an Emmy Award for his music direction on the special Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas. In the 1990s, Courage succeeded Arthur Morton as Goldsmiths primary orchestrator. Courage frequently collaborated with John Williams during the latters tenure with the Boston Pops Orchestra.