David Hirschfelder

David Hirschfelder (born 18 November 1960, Ballarat, Victoria) is an Australian musician, film score composer and performer. As a musician he has been a member of Little River Band and John Farnham Band. He has composed film scores for many films, including Strictly Ballroom, Australia, The Railway Man, The Water Diviner and The Dressmaker. He was nominated for Academy Awards for his scores for Shine and Elizabeth.

David Hirschfelder
Born (1960-11-18) 18 November 1960
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
GenresPop rock, adult contemporary
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
InstrumentsKeyboards, piano, bass
Years active1980–present
Associated actsPyramid, Peter Cupples Band, Little River Band, Blowout, Dragon, John Farnham, CAB
Websitedavidhirschfelder.com

Musician

As a keyboardist, Hirschfelder has been a member of various groups including the jazz fusion band Pyramid, rock band Peter Cupples Band (1980), pop rockers Little River Band (1983–1986), Blowout, Dragon (1987, 1989), adult contemporary singer John Farnham's backing band (1986–1992),[1] and jazz fusion supergroup CAB.[2]

In 1980 Hirschfelder joined the Peter Cupples Band, Cupples had just left his soul-pop group, Stylus, and formed the rock group with Hirschfelder on keyboards, Virgil Donati on drums, Ross Ingliss on guitar and Robert Little on bass guitar.[3] In October 1981 Peter Cupples Band released his debut album, Fear of Thunder.[3] In 1982 Hirschfelder provided piano on Little River Band's album, Greatest Hits.[4] Their next album, The Net had Hirschfelder on keyboards and as co-producer, with the band's line-up including Farnham on lead vocals, Beeb Birtles on guitars and vocals, Graeham Goble on guitars and vocals, Stephen Housden on guitar and backing vocals, Wayne Nelson on bass guitar and vocals, and Derek Pellicci on drums and percussion.[5] He joined the group in September 1983, as they toured in the United States.[6] Their 1984 album, Playing to Win saw Hirschfelder supplying guitar, piano, keyboards, synthesiser, programming and vocals.[7] He also co-wrote the tracks, "When Cathedrals Were White", "Blind Eyes" and "Playing to Win".[7] The latter two were issued as singles, with "Playing to Win" reaching the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1985 and Top 100 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart.[8][9] In mid-1986 the group issued No Reins which had Hirschfelder on piano, keyboards and co-writing "Paper Paradise".[10]

After Reins had been recorded, Hirschfelder left Little River Band to return to Australia and joined Farnham's backing band. In April–June 1986 Farnham recorded his album, Whispering Jack with Hirschfelder on keyboards, drum programs and co-writing "Going, Going, Gone".[11] For touring in support of the album Farnham and Hirschfelder were joined on the Jack's Back Tour by Angus Burchill (or Burchall) on drums, Brett Garsed on lead guitar, and Greg Macainsh on bass guitar (Skyhooks).[12] At that time, Jack's Back Tour was the highest-grossing tour by an Australian act.[13] Hirschfelder remained with Farnham for the studio albums, Age of Reason (July 1988) and Chain Reaction (September 1990).[12] Between these two albums he released his own, Welcome to the Nightclub of My Mind in 1989. In 1992 Hirschfelder left Farnham's backing band to concentrate on his score work for television and feature films. In 1999 he collaborated with David Hobson for the song cycle Inside This Room based on writings by Joseph Campbell and Paulo Coelho.[14]

Film composer

Hirschfelder's first score work was for the TV series, Skirts and Shadows of the Heart (both in 1990); Ratbag Hero followed in 1991.[15]

He has composed scores for films including Strictly Ballroom (1992), Shine (1996), Sliding Doors (1998), Elizabeth (1998), Hanging Up (2000), Peaches (2004), Australia (2008), and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010).

He has worked numerous times with directors Ian Gilmour, Craig Monahan, Ann Turner, Roger Spottiswoode and Baz Luhrmann.

In 1999, the score for Elizabeth (composed for a 90-piece orchestra and a 40-piece choir) was nominated for an Oscar, and was honoured with a BAFTA award and an APRA award for Best Original Score. He also won the Best Score BAFTA in 1993 for Strictly Ballroom.

He composed for the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Selective filmography
Year Film Directed by Notes
1990 Skirts Brendan Maher, Richard Sarell & Ian Gilmour TV series
1992 Strictly Ballroom Baz Luhrmann
1994 Dallas Doll Ann Turner
1996 Shine Scott Hicks nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score[16]
1996 Dating the Enemy Megan Simpson Huberman
1998 Sliding Doors Peter Howitt also orchestrator
1998 The Interview Craig Monahan
1998 Elizabeth Shekhar Kapur also conductor and orchestrator; nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score [17]
1999 What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? Ian Mune
2000 Hanging Up Diane Keaton
2000 Better Than Sex Jonathan Teplitzky
2000 The Weight of Water Kathryn Bigelow also conductor
2002 Bootleg Ian Gilmour TV mini-series
2003 The Wannabes Nick Giannopoulos
2004 Standing Room Only Deborra-Lee Furness Short film
2004 Peaches Craig Monahan
2004 BlackJack Peter Andrikidis, Ian Watson & Kate Woods TV series, all episodes except pilot
2004 The Five People You Meet In Heaven Lloyd Kramer TV film; also conductor
2006 Aquamarine Elizabeth Allen also conductor
2006 Irresistible Ann Turner
2007 Shake Hands with the Devil Roger Spottiswoode Won Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song at the 28th Genie Awards
2008 The Children of Huang Shi Roger Spottiswoode
2008 Salute Matt Norman documentary
2008 Australia Baz Luhrmann also harmonica musician
2009 The Blue Mansion Glen Goei
2010 I Love You Too Daina Reid
2010 Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole Zack Snyder Animated film
2011 Sanctum Alister Grierson
2012 Beyond Right and Wrong: Stories of Justice and Forgiveness Lekha Singh, Roger Spottiswoode documentary
2013 The Railway Man Jonathan Teplitzky, based on a true story by Eric Lomax historical drama
2014 Healing Craig Monahan drama
2014 The Water Diviner Russell Crowe historical drama
2015 The Dressmaker Jocelyn Moorhouse drama
2016 A Street Cat Named Bob Roger Spottiswoode drama
2017 A Few Less Men Mark Lamprell comedy
2017 Dance Academy: The Movie Jeffrey Walker drama
2018 In Like Flynn Russell Mulcahy drama
2019 Ride Like a Girl Rachel Griffiths drama

Awards and nominations
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References

General

  • McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Whammo Homepage". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004. Retrieved 10 April 2012. Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.

Specific

  1. Holmgren, Magnus. "Little River Band". Australian Rock Database. Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  2. ""C.A.B." With Bunny Brunel And Tony MacAlpine Live At The Baked Potato". All About Jazz. 29 May 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  3. McFarlane, Ian. "Stylus". Archived from the original on September 1, 2004. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  4. "David Hirschfelder". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  5. "The Net – Little River Band". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  6. McFarlane, 'Little River Band' entry at the Wayback Machine (archived June 15, 2004). Archived from the original on 15 June 2004. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  7. "Playing to Win – Little River Band". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  8. "Little River Band – Chart History ("Playing to Win")". Billboard. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-64611-917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  10. "Reins – Little River Band". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  11. "Whispering Jack – John Farnham". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  12. McFarlane, 'John Farnham' entry at the Wayback Machine (archived August 29, 2004). Archived from the original on 29 August 2004. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  13. Kimball, Duncan (2002). "John Farnham". Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Ice Productions. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  14. Inside This Room (2002) on IMDb
  15. "Peaches" (DOC). School of Media Communication and Culture. Murdoch University. 2006. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  16. "1997 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences".
  17. "1999 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences".
  18. "Winners Prior to 2002". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  19. "1999 Winners - APRA Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Archived from the original on 18 September 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  20. "2008 Winners – Screen Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Archived from the original on 8 March 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
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