Stanley Myers

Stanley Myers (6 October 1930 – 9 November 1993) was a British film composer who scored over sixty films. He also wrote the guitar piece "Cavatina". Myers was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England; as a teenager he went to King Edward's School in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham. Myers wrote incidental music for television: for example, The Reign of Terror, a 1964 serial in the television series Doctor Who; the theme to All Gas and Gaiters; and the theme for the BBC's Question Time. He is known for composing music for the cult horror films House of Whipcord, Frightmare, House of Mortal Sin and Schizo for filmmaker Pete Walker. He is best known for "Cavatina" (1970), an evocative guitar piece that served as the signature theme for Michael Cimino's 1978 film The Deer Hunter, and for which Myers won the Ivor Novello Award. A somewhat different version of this work, performed by John Williams, had appeared in The Walking Stick. And yet another version had lyrics added. Cleo Laine and Iris Williams, in separate recordings as He Was Beautiful, helped to make "Cavatina" become even more popular.