About David Rose

The name David Rose is virtually synonymous with the golden age of American instrumental pop and few artists have managed to equal his output in terms of innovation, diversity and sheer volume. Dubbed "The King of Strings", he is best known for his massive hits "The Stripper" and "Holiday for Strings" in which his signature employment of pizzicato strings and melodic octave doubling over block chords is deliberately audible. In addition, his scores for "Bonanza" and "Little House on the Prairie" have been regarded as some of the finest in television history and serve as a benchmark for all contemporary Western themes. He has recorded over 5,000 hours of music, 50 albums and his work has been featured in over 40 films and 25 TV shows. In addition, he has received 4 Emmy's, 6 gold records and 6 Grammies as well as several recognitions of repeated performances from ASCAP and 2 Academy Award nominations.

Rose was born in London on June 15th 1910. In 1914 he and his family relocated to Chicago. At the age of 7, he began studying the piano and just 7 years later he decided to pursue his studies on a higher level at the Chicago College of Music. At the age of 16, he was performing as a pianist with The Ted Fiorito dance band in New York City. Three years later, he began work as a standby pianist, conductor and arranger for NBC Radio. During this time he also worked outside the network penning arrangements for several recordings including Benny Goodman's 1936 hit "It's Been So Long".

In 1938 David set off for Hollywood where he assembled the David Rose Orchestra as the music director for the Mutual Broadcasting System's "California Melodies." It was through this show that he sharpened his string writing talents as the full orchestra was eventually cut, leaving him with only a string section. Shortly thereafter, he joined the U.S. Airforce and served for 4 years; in 1943, during his service, he acted as director and composer for the Moss Air Force production of the play "Winged Victory," which a year later was turned into a major motion picture. In the same year he composed the legendary "Holiday for Strings" which would become one of his most popular works.

Upon his return from the military, Rose resumed his career as an acclaimed studio conductor and was honored in 1944 with his first Oscar nomination for the Bob Hope/Virginia Mayo film "The Princess and the Pirate." In 1947, he began his 23-year-long association with Red Skelton for whom Rose's "Holiday For Strings" became the theme song. Promptly thereafter, Rose became one of the most in demand TV composers in Hollywood. In 1961, he assumed duties as music director at MGM where he scored films starring legends like Doris Day, Paul Newman, Sydney Portier and Jane Powell. By 1962, there were a total of 22 shows with music accredited to him; this was also the year that "The Stripper," a raunchy tune he composed for "Burlesque" starring Dan Dailey and Joan Blondell in 1958, became his first gold record. Rose continued scoring for TV well into the 1980's- some of the shows that featured his work included "An Evening With Fred Astaire," "Sea Hunt," "Mr. Adams and Eve," "Father Murphy" and "Highway to Heaven" as well as an impressive 47 episode run with "Little House on the Prairie," and an extensive 136 episode run with "Bonanza," both for which he was honored with Emmy's.

His music has been featured in motion pictures for MGM, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Universal and Paramount. To this day, Rose's music is at the forefront of Hollywood's consciousness as is evident by its use in the films "Madagascar" (2005), "Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit" (2005), "The Full Monty" (1997) and TV shows such as "Scrubs" (2003) and "Gavin & Stacey" (2007) amongst countless others. David Rose composed music all the way up to his death on August 23rd, 1990. His legacy lives on not only through his brilliant compositions, but also through his innovation in the field of sound recording as he pioneered the use of the echo chamber and 21 channel separation in orchestral recording. In addition to the staples "Holiday for Strings" and "The Stripper," his classic gold records "Calypso Melody," "Dance of the Spanish Onion," and his Grammy award winning recordings "Our Waltz," "Like Blue" and "Like Young" are forever etched in Hollywood's memory and will live on through their continued influence on future generations.