37 Facts About Dimitri Tiomkin

Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin was a Russian-born American film composer and conductor.

Dimitri Tiomkin was born in Kremenchuk, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire.

Dimitri Tiomkin's family was of Jewish descent; his father Zinovy Tiomkin was a "distinguished pathologist" and associate of Professor Paul Ehrlich, and later a notable Zionist leader.

Dimitri Tiomkin's mother, Marie Tartakovskaya, was a musician who began teaching the young Tiomkin piano at an early age.

Dimitri Tiomkin's hope was to have her son become a professional pianist, according to Tiomkin biographer Christopher Palmer.

Dimitri Tiomkin was educated at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied piano with Felix Blumenfeld, teacher of Vladimir Horowitz, and harmony and counterpoint with Alexander Glazunov, mentor to Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich.

Dimitri Tiomkin survived the revolution and found work under the new regime.

In 1920, while working for the Petrograd Military District Political Administration, Dimitri Tiomkin was one of the lead organizers of two revolutionary mass spectacles, the Mystery of Liberated Labor, a pseudo-religious mystery play for the May Day festivities, and The Storming of the Winter Palace for the celebrations of the third anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution.

Dimitri Tiomkin supported himself while living in Saint Petersburg by playing piano accompaniment for numerous Russian silent films.

Dimitri Tiomkin composed light classical and popular music, and made his performing debut as a pianist playing Franz Liszt's Piano Concerto No 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic.

Dimitri Tiomkin moved to Paris with his roommate, Michael Khariton, to perform a piano duo repertory together.

Dimitri Tiomkin worked on some minor films, some without being credited under his own name.

Dimitri Tiomkin began to focus on work as a film music composer.

Dimitri Tiomkin received his first break from Columbia director Frank Capra, who chose him to write and perform the score for Lost Horizon.

Dimitri Tiomkin worked on other Capra films during the following decade, including the comedy You Can't Take It With You, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Meet John Doe, and It's a Wonderful Life.

Dimitri Tiomkin credited Capra for broadening his musical horizons by shifting them away from a purely Eurocentric and romantic style to a more American style based on subject matter and story.

Dimitri Tiomkin was the second composer to receive two Oscars for the same dramatic film.

Dimitri Tiomkin composed his entire score around this single western-style ballad.

Dimitri Tiomkin added a subtle harmonica in the background, to give the film a "rustic, deglamorized sound that suits the anti-heroic sentiments" expressed by the story.

Dimitri Tiomkin received Oscar nominations for his scores in both Giant and The Alamo.

Dimitri Tiomkin scored many films of various genres, including historical dramas such as Cyrano de Bergerac, The Fall of the Roman Empire, and Great Catherine ; war movies such as The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, The Guns of Navarone, and Town Without Pity ; and suspense thrillers such as 36 Hours.

Dimitri Tiomkin wrote scores for four of Alfred Hitchcock's suspense dramas: Shadow of a Doubt, Strangers on a Train, I Confess, and Dial M for Murder.

Dimitri Tiomkin appeared as a contestant on the October 20,1955, episode of the TV quiz program You Bet Your Life, hosted by Groucho Marx.

Dimitri Tiomkin composed the music to the song "Wild Is The Wind".

Dimitri Tiomkin had no illusions about his talent and the nature of his film work when compared to the classical composers.

Dimitri Tiomkin came from a Big Country, too, and in America's vastness, particularly its vast all-embracingness of sky and plain, he must have seen a reflection of the steppes of his native Ukraine.

Dimitri Tiomkin paid careful attention to the voices of the actors when composing.

Dimitri Tiomkin would talk with them individually, noting the pitch and color of their voices.

Dimitri Tiomkin explains why he took the extra time with actors:.

Dimitri Tiomkin died in London, England, in 1979 two weeks after fracturing his pelvis in a fall.

Dimitri Tiomkin was interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Dimitri Tiomkin was honored in the Soviet Union and Russia.

Dimitri Tiomkin was the first film score composer to write both the title theme song and the score.

Dimitri Tiomkin expanded on that technique in many of his westerns, including High Noon and Gunfight at the OK.

Dimitri Tiomkin was known to use "source music" in his scores.

Some recordings, which usually featured Dimitri Tiomkin conducting his own music, have been reissued on CD.

Dimitri Tiomkin's image was added as part of their "Hollywood Composers" selection.