Sylvester Levay
Sylvester Levay (originally Lévay Szilveszter, Serbian: Силвестер Леваи, Silvester Levai) is a Hungarian composer. He was born 16 May 1945 in Subotica in the North Bačka District of Vojvodina, Yugoslavia (now Serbia), his name in English is pronounced similarly to "Lave-ah-ee (like slave)."
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[edit] Life and career
Sylvester Levay began his musical studies at the age of eight. Levay developed a taste for American music while growing up in Yugoslavia, eventually becoming a music arranger and lyricist.[1] Upon his arrival in Munich in 1972, he met his writing partner, Michael Kunze, with whom he has created many successful theatrical works. From 1980 to 2000 he lived in Hollywood and concentrated on composing film music. He currently divides his time between homes in Munich, Vienna and Los Angeles.
Married for twenty-five years, he and his wife Monika have a daughter, Alice, and a son, Sylvester Jr.
[edit] Work
At the age of fifteen, Sylvester won his first composition competition. In Munich he worked with Udo Jürgens and Katja Ebstein. Between 1977 and 1980 he composed and produced for Elton John, Silver Convention, and others. From 1980 on, he worked with various Hollywood greats, including Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, George Lucas and others.
A member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), he has lectured on film composition at UCLA and USC. He conducts and orchestrates all his own work, and plays the piano, saxophone, clarinet, flute, and organ. Among his motion picture soundtracks, there's his brilliant work for Ivan Passer's Creator (1985). But his most famous and best-loved work is for the high-flying, mid 1980s US TV action series Airwolf (1984–1986), the official 2CD soundtrack, Airwolf Themes (produced by Mark J.Cairns) of which holds the record as the 'World's Most Expensive Television Soundtrack' selling for up to $981[2] on eBay. Since the 1990s, Levay has dedicated himself to the musical. His musicals Marie Antoinette and Rebecca are played in front of sold-out houses.
In October 2010, Levay worked with Xiah Junsu of JYJ to prepare for a musical concert - "Kim Junsu Musical Concert, Levay with Friends" in South Korea to be held at Seoul's Olympic Gymnastics Arena.[3]
[edit] Compositions (selection)
- "Fly, Robin, Fly" (reached no. 1 in the US Charts) (1975)
- Scarface OST (as arranger) (1983)
- Creator (1985)
- My Man Adam (1986)
- Airwolf (1984–1986)
- Bambi
- Cobra (1986 film)
- Navy SEALs (1990)
- Hot Shots! (1991)
- Medicopter 117 (1998–2006)
- Hexen, Hexen (musical) (1990)
- Elisabeth (Musical) (1992, premiered at Theater an der Wien)
- Mozart! (Musical) (1999, premiered at Theater an der Wien)
- Rebecca (musical) (2006, premiered at Raimundtheater)
- Marie Antoinette (musical) (2006, premiered at Imperial Garden Theater))
[edit] Awards
- Grammy Award for Fly, Robin, Fly, words by Michael Kunze (1975)
- Goldene Stimmgabel (2002)
- Goldene Europa (2002)
[edit] References
- ^ Vickers, Tom. "Singles: Surprising Takeoff of 'Fly, Robin, Fly.'" Rolling Stone 203 (January 1, 1976), p. 18.
- ^ "AirwolfThemes.com", 2006
- ^ "Xiah Junsu Musical Concert To Be Held", 2010
- Filmography (English)
- Rebeccamusical.de - Biography
- This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia.
[edit] External links
- Sylvester Levay at the Internet Movie Database
- "Airwolf Themes 2CD" - more info on his world record-breaking soundtrack
