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Carmine Coppola

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Carmine Coppola (1910 to 1991) was an American composer, flautist, pianist and songwriter, born in New York to Italian immigrants from Bernalda in Basilicata. His brother was the opera conductor and composer Anton Coppola. Carmine studied at Juilliard, later at the Manhattan School of Music and privately with Joseph Schillinger. In the 1940s he played under Arturo Toscanini in the NBC Symphony Orchestra. In 1951 he left the orchestra to concentrate on composing. He worked mainly as a conductor on Broadway and elsewhere and wrote additional music for Finian's Rainbow, directed by his son Francis Ford Coppola.

Music and breakthrough

He is the father of the director Francis Ford Coppola, of August Coppola and of Talia Shire, and the grandfather of, among others, Nicolas Cage and Sofia Coppola. For his son he supplied music for films such as The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, The Black Stallion and The Godfather Part III. He contributed to the music of the wedding scene in The Godfather from 1972 and worked on the score of The Godfather Part II from 1974. He won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for best original film score, and received nominations for a BAFTA and a Grammy. Albums such as The Godfather Suite from 1977, The Black Stallion from 1980 and Napoleon from 1989 showcase his work.

Influence

Coppola shows how a classically trained musician in a family firm of filmmakers could shape the sound of an era, with music that evokes atmosphere and ancestry at the same time.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to the wedding music or the main theme from The Godfather Suite. Notice the Italian, danceable character and how a simple melody evokes a whole world.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists