Biography
Composer, orchestrator and a respected authority on British composers and the Golden Age of film music, Christopher Palmer, along with his friends Charles Gerhardt and George Korngold helped launch a revival of interest in Hollywood's classic movie scores. Palmer was particularly important for having reintroduced the world to the lost scores of composer
Miklos Rozsa (who personally assisted Palmer's research). Palmer was also personally and professionally close with master scorists
Bernard Herrmann and
Dimitri Tiomkin. Palmer was the son of a church organist. Before becoming interested in music, he studied modern languages at Trinity Hall College, Cambridge University. During his career, Palmer orchestrated over 100 scores and worked with such composers as
Elmer Bernstein,
Carl Davis and
Maurice Jarre. Palmer himself, wrote one musical score for
Milos Forman's
Valmont (1989). He also provided the musical direction for
Nicolas Roeg's
The Witches (1989). In early 1995, just before he passed away from an AIDS-related illness, Palmer received a lifetime achievement award from the United States-based Society for Preservation of Film Music. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide