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Music and Performing Arts Library Frank Skinner Movie Scores and Sound Recordings, 1937-1966

By Sydney Blefko, Michael Massaro, Carol Berthold

Collection Overview

Title: Music and Performing Arts Library Frank Skinner Movie Scores and Sound Recordings, 1937-1966

ID: 35/3/100

Creator: Skinner, Frank (1897-1968)

Extent: 6.25 cubic feet

Arrangement: This collection is organized into two series: Series 1: Movie Scores (1938-1966), and Series 2: Sound Recordings (1940-1942). Series 1 is organized chronologically by each film score's year of composition and then alphabetically within each year. Series 2 is organized alphabetically by the title of the movie.

Date Acquired: 10/11/2019

Languages: English [eng]

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Consists of film scores by the composer Frank Skinner and audio recordings. The scores in this collection were created between 1938-1966, during Skinner's time working at Universal Studios. Accompanying many of the scores are copyright documents which list publisher and other information about each of the compositions within the score, as well as clerical information about the score. The vast majority of the scores in the collection are published scores, but this collection also contains multiple publisher drafts.

The audio recordings of Skinner's movie scores are songs and other music by Frank Skinner.

Biographical Note

Frank Skinner (1897-1968) was born in Meridosia, Illinois on December 31, 1897. He began his musical career playing piano with his brother Carl on several American vaudeville circuits. In the 1930s, he began arranging songs for New York area dance bands. In 1934 he published F. Skinner's Simplified Method of Modern Arranging. In 1936, he moved to Hollywood to become a film composer, his debut came in an arrangement for MGM's The Great Ziegfield. The bulk of his career was spent at Universal Studios, where he worked from 1937 until 1966. During this time he became known for his horror film music, although he wrote music for several other genres including westerns, historical hiction, and romance films. His most significant film scores were written for Son of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Saboteur, Arabian Nights, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Spring Parade, House of the Seven Gables, Mad About Music, Shenandoah, The Amazing Mrs. Holiday, Written on the Wind, Black Street, Imitation of Life, and Ride to the Hangman's Tree. He was nominated for five oscars for best music score in 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1944, but never won.

Administrative Information

Accruals: 12 CDs of sound tracks from Skinner movie scores donated by Ray Faiola on November 24, 2021.

Acquisition Source: University of Illinois, Music and Performing Arts Library

Acquisition Method: Transferred from the University of Illinois Music and Performing Arts Library to the Sousa Archives on October 11, 2019.

Box and Folder Listing