Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
I have used Bernstein’s magnificent opus as a soundtrack in my vehicle to set the mood when leaving home for a road trip. ‘Tis wondrous and stirring.Even getting stuck at the stoplight at the edge of town doesn’t diminish it. (Although, when I am finally leaving Ca for good, I intend to start out with a certain section of battle music from “Gladiator”.)
What blows my mind is that Elmer Bernstein could write epic soundtracks like “The Ten Commandments” and “The Magnificent Seven” and also compose soundtracks for comedies like “Airplane!”, “The Blues Brothers”, and “Ghostbusters”. The producers of “Airplane!” said he knew instinctively what they wanted — an “old Hollywood drama” type of music but with a comical over the top twist.