Dimitri Tiomkin

Hollywood wits once took delight in ridiculing the borscht-flavored accent of Russian-born composer Dimitri Tiomkin. They found particular amusement when he shouted “Switt lyand of lyaberty!” while arranging “The Star Spangled Banner” for Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). A St. Petersburg Academy alumnus who trained under Glazunov and earned degrees in both law and music, Tiomkin displayed an early affinity for Native American music. During his years as a touring concert pianist, he played a leading role in bringing Gershwin’s compositions to European audiences. Tiomkin departed Russia for the United States in 1925, attained American citizenship twelve years afterward, and made his conducting debut with the L.A. Philharmonic in 1938. His initial American works consisted chiefly of live ballets created with his wife, choreographer Albertina Raasch, before he entered film scoring in 1933. Beginning with Lost Horizon (1937), he forged an extended collaboration with director Frank Capra that dissolved acrimoniously after artistic disagreements on the set of It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). Although Tiomkin never prioritized jukebox success, several of his film themes became Top Ten hits, including “Do Not Forsake Me” from High Noon (1952), the whistled main theme of The High and the Mighty (1954), the opening music for Friendly Persuasion (1956), and “Green Leaves of Summer” from The Alamo (1960). The recipient of five Academy Awards plus numerous international distinctions, he continued scoring pictures until 1970, the year he produced, directed, and orchestrated the U.S./Soviet co-production Tschaikovsky.