Music like Ernest Gold

Ernst Sigmund Goldner (July 13, 1921 – March 17, 1999), known professionally as Ernest Gold, was an Austrian-born American composer. He is most noted for his work on the film Exodus produced in 1960.

Gold was born in 1921 in Vienna, the son of Elisabeth (Stransky) and Gustav Gold. Gold came from a musical family. His father played the violin, and his mother sang. His father also studied under Richard Heuberger. His paternal grandfather was Jewish, although his paternal grandmother was not. Gold said that he learned to read music before he had learned to read words. He started developing his musical talents at a young age. He studied the violin and the piano when he was only 6 years old and began composing music at 8. By age 13, Gold had written an entire opera. As a child, he always said he wanted to go to Hollywood and be a composer. Gold would go to the movies as a teenager to listen to the musical compositions. He admired Max Steiner. Gold attended the State Academy of Music that is located in Vienna in 1938; however, he moved to the U.S. in 1938, after the Anschluss of Austria. In the United States, Gold earned money by performing piano accompaniment and writing pop songs in New York City. He studied with Otto Cesana and Leon Barzin at the National Orchestra Association.