Suite from To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Composer note
In many ways, To Kill a Mockingbird was one of the most difficult scores to write. I distinctly remember procrastinating for weeks before committing a single note to paper. I remember finally arriving at what was to become the opening bars of the score and even then feeling quite uncertain about whether the approach was correct. I called Alan Pakula (who was the producer of the film) on the telephone with no little trepidation and played him the unaccompanied theme on the piano. Mr. Pakula's confidence in this approach did much to keep me on track. The problem I was having related to what role music should play in the film. The elements I was dealing with were those of a father's love for his children, the children themselves, a small town in the South, the Depression, and racial bigotry. After some time it became clear to me that the music could most help to create that special magic that is a children's imagination and that wonderful innocent and straightforward way that children see the world around them. This beautiful film directed by Robert Mulligan received an Academy Award nomination for the score and the film and an Oscar for Gregory Peck.

— Elmer Bernstein