Norman Leyden obit

Beloved Oregon Symphony Pops director Leyden dies at 96

 He was not on the list.

PORTLAND -- A leader among big bands, the Golden Age of Music and The Oregon Symphony, has passed away. Norman Leyden died Wednesday morning. He was 96.

Leyden composed and arranged music for The Glenn Miller Orchestra, classic Disney movies including "Cinderella," Pinocchio" and "Peter Pan." He also served as musical director for "The Jackie Gleason Show."

In 1970, Leyden became Pops Director for The Oregon Symphony -- a baton he held for 34 years.

"I think a lot of people have heard (Leyden's) music and not even known they were listening to it," said Oregon Symphony President and CEO Scott Showalter.

"(Leyden) led an extraordinary life," said Niel DePonte, principal percussionist for the Oregon Symphony.

DePonte said Leyden brought out the best in each musician and shared the history of popular music with every audience.

He also loved fine wine.

"Norman was the kind of conductor who would get on the bus with the musicians after a pops concert in Salem, bring a couple of his fine bottles of wine and share them with the musicians," said DePonte.

Like fine wine, Leyden seemed to get better with age.

Last year, at age 95, Leyden made his Hollywood Bowl debut with Portland-based band, Pink Martini. He also made his Carnegie Hall debut.

Leyden played the clarinet solo on Pink Martini's song, "Hang on Little Tomato." The band learned of Leyden's death while performing Tuesday night, in France.

"The band was sort of in shock," said Pink Martini band leader, Thomas Lauderdale. "We dedicated that song to him on stage, and by the end of it, (we) were in tears."

Lauderdale recalled when Leyden gave Pink Martini their first big break, inviting them to play on stage with the Oregon Symphony in the late 90's.

"Actually, that first year was a total disaster," admitted Lauderdale. "Our musical arrangements were in shambles, but (Leyden) still believed in us and gave us an opportunity to redeem ourselves the following year. That really launched our career with symphony orchestras."

The Oregon Symphony plans to honor Norman Leyden at their Waterfront Park concert, August 28.

While Leyden was serving as a master sergeant in Atlantic City and rehearsing music, Glenn Miller heard Leyden perform. Miller said to him, "For a Yale man, you don't play bad tenor". Miller called on Leyden in September 1943 to conduct the Moss Hart Army Air Forces spectacular "Winged Victory". This was a big musical play in Broadway's Shubert Theatre with an all service band. The show started in November 1943. Leyden next requested the opportunity to arrange for Glenn Miller, and was accepted and served as one of three arrangers for Miller's Army Air Forces Orchestra. His first arrangement for the band was "Now I Know". Sometimes, Leyden would write more complexity into the score than was desirable. Miller told him once "Hey Norm, it was a nice try. But remember it ain't what you write, it's what you don't write". In 1943, Leyden composed the theme music for the wartime radio series "I Sustain the Wings" with Glenn Miller, Chummy MacGregor, and Bill Meyers. The radio program ran from 1943 to 1944. Leyden also arranged for the reorganized Glenn Miller Orchestra of Tex Beneke. In August 2000, he led the Air Force Falconaires of the Air Force Band of the Rockies in a PBS television special, "Glenn Miller's Last Flight".

Between 1956 and 1959, he was musical director for Arthur Godfrey's radio program. He also worked as musical director on The $64,000 Question (including writing the theme music), and as the musical director of The Jackie Gleason Show, originally called You're in the Picture (1961). He also organized the Westchester Youth Symphony in White Plains, New York, in 1957 (an organization he led until 1968). As a staff arranger at RCA Victor he composed and arranged music for Disney and other musicals including Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio. Leyden also conducted and arranged for many well-known artists including Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Don Cornell, Vic Damone, Johnny Desmond, The Four Lads, Johnny Hartman, Gordon MacRae, Mitch Miller, Ezio Pinza, Frank Sinatra, Jeri Southern, and Sarah Vaughan.