Tag Archives: Behind the photograph

January 2026
Behind the Photograph: Ballet at the Beach? Dimitri Tiomkin at the piano

Posted on February 14, 2026 by wsherk

To promote their films and talent, the Hollywood movie studios went to great lengths to find that perfect image that would catch the eye of potential moviegoers, with scantily clad women and pets among the common cliches. This historic photograph, … Read More…

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August 2025
Behind the Photograph: Tiomkin and Rasch, 1964

Posted on September 1, 2025 by wsherk

This may be the last known photograph of composer Dimitri Tiomkin and choreographer Albertina Rasch together, taken at a significant and joyous occasion in a crowded Perino’s restaurant in Los Angeles on July 30, 1964. The image was captured at … Read More…

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January 2025
Behind the Photograph: Dimitri Tiomkin and Max Steiner

Posted on February 2, 2025 by wsherk

Two emerging titans of film scoring, Dimitri Tiomkin and Max Steiner, appear together on the scoring stage podium for the Columbia Pictures film, Lost Horizon. With right arm raised, conductor Steiner faces the Columbia Studio Orchestra, with instruments at the … Read More…

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September 2024
Behind the Photograph: Dimitri Tiomkin with Morris Stoloff

Posted on September 29, 2024 by wsherk

This undated publicity still shows musical director Morris Stoloff and composer Dimitri Tiomkin, pencil in hand, probably at a desk in Stoloff’s office on the Columbia lot in Hollywood reviewing a music score. The inches-thick stack of pages might be … Read More…

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January 2024
Behind the photograph: Nickolas Muray portrait of Dimitri Tiomkin

Posted on March 2, 2024 by wsherk

In the thick of his career as a concert pianist based in New York, Dimitri Tiomkin sat in the studio of photographer Nickolas Muray in the Park Central Hotel at 56th Street and 7th Avenue, a stone’s throw from Central … Read More…

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July 2023
 Behind the Photograph: Dimitri Tiomkin and Olivia Patch visit the studio of artist Ilya Glazunov in Moscow, 1971

Posted on August 27, 2023 by wsherk

At first glance, it’s difficult to discern the occasion for this unusual image filled with Russian art and icons. One’s eye is drawn to the bearded old man on the left, possibly because of his outsize proportion. More on the … Read More…

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April 2022
Behind the Photograph: The Tiomkin Sessions

Posted on May 1, 2022 by wsherk

by Warren M. Sherk Peering over music spread out on stands, this musician’s eye view by photographer Derek Elley, captioned “Tiomkin Sessions” on back, perfectly captures the recording of music from Hollywood’s Golden Age in May 1978 at the Olympic … Read More…

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March 2021
 Behind the Photograph: Robert Russell Bennett presents a special award to composer Dimitri Tiomkin

Posted on March 28, 2021 by wsherk

In its heyday from the 1930s through 1960s, the National Association for American Composers and Conductors (NAACC) was devoted to the promotion and performance of American concert hall music. In the mid-1970s—some years after the deaths of both its founder, … Read More…

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June 2020
Behind the Photograph: Dimitri Tiomkin’s Outstanding Western Musical Composition of 1960

Posted on August 14, 2020 by wsherk

Nevada lieutenant governor and former actor Rex Bell (holding trophy) presents Bill Hill, representing Dimitri Tiomkin and Columbia Records, with a Western Heritage Award trophy for Outstanding Western Musical Composition of 1960. The Alamo soundtrack by Dimitri Tiomkin took top … Read More…

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October 2019
Behind the Photograph: Dimitri Tiomkin and Peggy Castle

Posted on November 9, 2019 by wsherk

A dapper Dimitri Tiomkin sports a wide grin as he places an LP on a turntable while actress Peggy Castle, looking like she’s dressed for an evening out, placidly looks on.  This intriguing photograph is captioned, “Dimitri Tiomkin, distinguished composer, … Read More…

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January 2019
Behind the photograph: Dimitri Tiomkin in Moscow

Posted on February 4, 2019 by wsherk

This portrait of Dimitri Tiomkin bundled up and dressed in a fur-lined coat was taken in snowbound Moscow on one of several trips by the composer and producer to the USSR in 1965 and 1966. What drew Tiomkin to Moscow during the … Read More…

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January 2017
Behind the photograph: Dimitri Tiomkin portrait by Gyenes

Posted on January 30, 2017 by wsherk

This portrait of Dimitri Tiomkin in black-tie formal, arms crossed, and smiling was taken by Gyenes at his studio in Madrid. The Hungarian-born photographer, Gyenes János, spent most of his life working in Spain as Juan Gyenes (1912-1995). Gyenes, now … Read More…

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June 2016
Behind the photograph: Eddie Cantor and the Albertina Rasch girls

Posted on July 4, 2016 by wsherk

Recently Olivia Tiomkin picked up I Blow My Own Horn, the autobiography of the American pioneer motion picture producer Jesse Lasky. Back in 1916, Lasky merged his company, Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company, with Adolph Zukor’s Famous Players Film … Read More…

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April 2016
Behind the photograph: Hollywood portfolio, Dimitri Tiomkin

Posted on May 1, 2016 by wsherk

Life magazine excelled at photojournalism in the 20th century, covering society, politics, culture, and more. Photographer Allan Grant took pictures of all the stars in Hollywood for the beloved periodical. In the photo above from 1955, Tiomkin is apparently demonstrating … Read More…

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June 2015
Behind the photograph: The Great Waltz

Posted on June 16, 2015 by wsherk

Upon viewing the above photograph one might surmise it depicts a wardrobe fitter examining a period costume dress. Except that’s no wardrobe fitter or seamstress, it’s choreographer Albertina Rasch with Miliza Korjus. That would lead one to assume it’s a production photograph for The Great … Read More…

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January 2015
Behind the photograph: Leonard Liebling

Posted on January 14, 2015 by wsherk

If you were a musician living in New York in the 1920s, as was Dimitri Tiomkin, you would have been familiar with the name Leonard Liebling. Largely forgotten today, Liebling was a leading cultural figure at the time, looming large … Read More…

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July 2014
Behind the photograph: Rhapsody in Blue

Posted on July 9, 2014 by wsherk

On Thursday, July 10, the Los Angeles Philharmonic will perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue at the Hollywood Bowl. Dimitri Tiomkin was among the early adopters of what is perhaps one of the most endearing and enduring of all American concert … Read More…

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May 2014
Behind the photograph: Hairston and Tiomkin

Posted on May 25, 2014 by wsherk

New or overlooked sources and resources often shed light on distant history. This month we were able to properly identify the photograph above through a newspaper archive documenting a local Los Angeles paper. Dimitri Tiomkin is on the conductor’s stand … Read More…

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October 2013
Behind the photograph: Tansman and Tiomkin

Posted on October 27, 2013 by wsherk

A recently unearthed letter to Dimitri Tiomkin from Alexandre Tansman set in motion a series of events that brought back in focus the photographs above. Taken in New York by London-born photographer Florence Vandamm, the photographs exhibit many of the … Read More…

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April 2011
Behind the photograph

Posted on April 1, 2011 by wsherk

Dimitri Tiomkin with His Excellency the High Commissioner for Kenya, Mr. Ng-Ethe Njoroge and Mrs. Njoroge at the London premiere of Tchaikovsky. Tiomkin scheduled a midnight unveiling of Tchaikovsky at the Odeon Marble Arch cinema in London’s West End in … Read More…

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