Composer-Arranger Alexander Courage Dies at 88

Notice of the recent death of composer-arranger Alexander Courage has come just days after the passing of TV composer Earle Hagen.

Courage worked as the orchestrator for many great MGM musicals, including SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952), THE BAND WAGON (1953), SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954), and GIGI (1958).

As John Williams told the L.A. Times today: "He was known to most musicians in the community as having been one of the architects of what we used to refer to as the MGM sound, which meant that most of the musical films from MGM had a particular style of orchestration, which was an extension and development of what was done in the theater in the 1920s. They actually took that to a very high art form, particularly in the musicals produced by Arthur Freed."

Courage also worked as the orchestrator of one of my all-time favorite film scores, THE BIG COUNTRY (1958), composed by Jerome Moross.

As a composer, his most significant work might have been the theme for the TV series STAR TREK.

Alexander Courage was another of the very talented people who has provided us with so many hours of memorable entertainment.