David Raksin (August 4, 1912 – August 9, 2004) was an American composer who was renowned for his work in film and television. With over 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit, he became known as the "Grandfather of Film Music."

Biography

David Raksin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1912. His father was an orchestra conductor. Raksin played professionally in dance bands while attending Central High School of Philadelphia. He went on to study composition with Harl McDonald at the University of Pennsylvania and later with Isadore Freed in New York and Arnold Schoenberg in Los Angeles. In New York Raksin worked as an arranger for Harms/Chappell.

One of his earliest film assignments was as assistant to Charlie Chaplin in the composition of the score to Modern Times (1936). He is perhaps best remembered for his score for the film Laura (1944). The theme music for the film, "Laura", with the addition of lyrics by Johnny Mercer, became a major hit. During Raksin's lifetime, "Laura" was said to be the second most-recorded song in history following Stardust by Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish.

"Don't Blame Me" is a popular song with music by Jimmy McHugh and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. The song was part of the 1932 show Clowns in Clover. It was published in 1933. It became a #21 hit for Nat King Cole in 1948.

The song received two significant "rock era" remakes: a mellow ballad version by the Everly Brothers, released by Warner Bros. Records in 1961, which reached #20 on Billboard; and an up-tempo version recorded by Frank Ifield which reached #8 of the UK charts on 15 February 1964. It was also featured in the musical Sugar Babies.

Notable recordings

Don't Blame Me is an Australian children's television program. In the United Kingdom, the show is known as Don't Blame the Koalas. The series was originally aired on the Nine Network and is also currently shown on ABC3 (the latter channel airing under the UK title).

Series overview

The show is set in Waratah Park, an Australian wildlife park in the Ku-ring-gai National Park where the King family arrive from England to live with their Australian relatives after going bankrupt. Before they arrive they believe they have inherited a large cattle ranch, but on arrival are disappointed to meet a largely unprofitable, slightly run down wildlife park.

Most of the comedy in the series is slightly surreal in a Round the Twist style way. Special effects and sounds are used to convey the characters actions mixed in with slightly speeded up footage when walking. Many of the characters frequently break the fourth wall.

Cast

David (Bulgarian: Давид) (died 976) was a Bulgarian noble, brother of Emperor Samuel and eldest son of komes Nicholas. After the disastrous invasion of Rus' armies and the fall of North-eastern Bulgaria under Byzantine occupation in 971, he and his three younger brothers took the lead of the defence of the country. They executed their power together and each of them governed and defended a separate region. He ruled the southern-most parts of the realm from Prespa and Kastoria and was responsible for the defence the dangerous borders with Thessalonica and Thessaly. In 976 he participated in the major assault against the Byzantine Empire but was killed by vagrant Vlachs between Prespa and Kostur.

Family tree

Another theory

However, there's also another version about David’s origin. David gains the title "comes" during his service in the Byzantine army which recruited many Armenians from the Eastern region of the empire. The 11th-century historian Stepanos Asoghik wrote that Samuel had one brother, and they were Armenians from the district Derjan. This version is supported by the historians Nicholas Adontz, Jordan Ivanov, and Samuil's Inscription where it’s said that Samuel’s brother is David. Also, the historians Yahya and Al Makin clearly distinguish the race of Samuel and David (the Comitopouli) from the one of Moses and Aaron (the royal race):

David (Spanish pronunciation: [daˈβið]) officially San José de David is a city and corregimiento located in the west of Panama. It is the capital of the province of Chiriquí and has an estimated population of 144,858 inhabitants as confirmed in 2013. It is a relatively affluent city with a firmly established, dominant middle class and a very low unemployment and poverty index. The Pan-American Highway is a popular route to David.

The development of the banking sector, public construction works such as the expansion of the airport and the David-Boquete highway alongside the growth of commercial activity in the city have increased its prominence as one of the fastest growing regions in the country. The city is currently the economic center of the Chiriqui province and produces more than half the gross domestic product of the province, which totals 2.1 billion. It is known for being the third-largest city in the country both in population and by GDP and for being the largest city in Western Panama.

David is a life-size marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The sculpture was one of many commissions to decorate the villa of Bernini's patron Cardinal Scipione Borghese – where it still resides today, as part of the Galleria Borghese It was completed in the course of seven months from 1623 to 1624.

The subject of the work is the biblical David, about to throw the stone that will bring down Goliath, which will allow David to behead him. Compared to earlier works on the same theme (notably the David of Michelangelo), the sculpture broke new ground in its implied movement and its psychological intensity.

Background

Between 1618 and 1625 Bernini was commissioned to undertake various sculptural work for the villa of one of his patrons, Cardinal Scipione Borghese. In 1623 – only yet 24 years old – he was working on the sculpture of Apollo and Daphne, when, for unknown reasons, he abandoned this project to start work on the David. According to records of payment, Bernini had started on the sculpture by mid–1623, and his contemporary biographer, Filippo Baldinucci, states that he finished it in seven months.