Ask Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Publications publishes widely popular and widely varied selection of music for orchestra, from the legendary Suzuki String Method to Ashokan Farewell. Their titles include music from movies, such as The Wizard of Oz, The Empire Strikes Back, and Music of the Heart, the music of Leoroy Anderson and George Gershwin, and the popular Best of... series of string orchestra collections. Some of Warner Bros. arrangers are Harry Alshin, Bob Cerulli, Calvin Custer, Elliot Del Borgo, Owen Goldsmith, Robert Washburn, Charles Sayre, Samuel Applebaum, and Merle Isaac.

Click here the ask the experts at Warner Bros. Before you ask though, browse through our past questions to see if your question has already been answered.

Question: I am interested in studying classic Warner Bros film scores. Is there an archive of them somewhere?

Answer: For this information, please contact the University of Southern California, they have the Warner Music Archives for all the old film scores. Information for this can found in many internet searches involving keywords USC warner music archives.

Question: I am trying to locate the rental score and parts for the following works: Korngold - The Adventures of Robin Hood, Rozsa - Ben-Hur Suite, Bernstein, Elmer - The Magnificent Seven Thank you for any information you can provide.

Answer: The best place to start in researching these titles would be our rental department. They can be contacted at 1-800-327-7643 ext 1686. If they have no scores available for rental you can then try accessing the Warner Music Archives through USC (University of Southern California) no contact info is available from me but you can find out by doing a google search or accessing USC directly through the internet.

Question: I'm trying to find out where to rent the suite from Casablanca(Max Steiner). I did it once before, about 12 years ago, when I was conducting in Minot, ND. But I've forgotten where I rented it from. Do you handle it? Has it been assigned to someone else? Thanks a
lot!

Answer: The Casablanca Suite can be rented from European American Music at
1-800-327-7643 Ext.1685

Tim Brosnan
Account Executive

Question: I'm desperately trying to find out if I can perform The Wizard Of Oz this Christmas. We are a small Junior school in Berkshire, England. We never charge the parents to come and see the children 'strut their stuff', so we're hoping that a licence would not be too costly. Could you please let
me know:

• whether we are allowed under any circumstances to perform this musical
• what conditions we can perform under
• how much it would cost us
• who we contact to arrange payment

Answer: You need to contact Tams Witmark in New York City to arrange for performance
materials and rights. There phone # is 212-688-2525.

Mike Green

Question: I am planning a programme for a gala concert and would very much like to perform the opening theme from a film called the American President. Mark Shaiman composed the score, is it available for large orchestra?? Regards from Scotland

Answer: The answer to your question about Mark Shaiman's wonderful score for the movie is : Warner Bros doesn't have this music. I don't think it was a Warner Bros. film but if it was, we don't have anything published on it. I've asked Luck's if they've ever heard of anything being published on it and they can't recall anything being done. Movie scores are rarely published other than watered down bits and pieces that are sometimes done for educational purposes like for early level concert bands and orchestras. The authentic scores themselves have very little market and so are rarely done.

Mike Green
Director of Edu Sales
Warner Bros. Publications

Question: I am the conductor/music director of the Westminster Chamber Orchestra. We are planning a patriotic choral/orchestral concert in May bringing together singers from all over eastern Washington to sing with the all-professional Westminster Chamber Orchestra. The featured work on the program will be Randall Thompson's "Testament of Freedom," but I was also considering programming "Ballad for Americans" (music by Earl Robinson)which was made famous in the 1940s by Paul Robeson. The original work was apparently published by Robbins Music Corporation and was scored for Baritone, Chorus, and Orchestra. I have an old copy of the piano/vocal score and that is all.

First, I am writing you because I think Warner Brothers has a choral work on the market right now titled "Ballad for Americans," but it may have no relationship to the Robinson work noted above. I'm also remembering that the publisher Robbins was under the Warner Brothers banner at one time, but I may be wrong.

Anyway, I am assuming this music is out of print-- is it? If so, do you have any sugestions as to where I might be able to rent or borrow the sheet music. It is one of the truly great American patriotic choral/orchestral works and deserves a revival during this post-9/11 time.

I appreciate any help you can give me in bringing to fruition this very worthwhile project -- Music can make a difference in this difficult time in our nation's history!

Answer: Thanks for your inquiry thru Luck's Music Library. I have this title listed in our data base, however it is permanently out of print. We had a piano/vocal sheet (item # T0600BPV)on it but it has been out of print since 1989. The SATB choral (T0600BC1) just went out of print this month and won't come back due to lack of sales. I'm not sure that this is the Robeson version or not. I couldn't find and info in the data base. I do show that JW Pepper may have 58 copies of the SATB choral if that would be useful. Shot in the dark: You might want to call Dave Olson's office at Warner Bros. Publications in Miami. He is the copyright guru there. Maybe there's an archive copy that still exists that he could photocopy and get to you. Its worth a try. 800-327-7643 ext 1692. Use the item #s I listed above. It'll help them. Also, try Pepper to see if they have any stock left. Wish I could be more help.

Mike Green
Director of Edu Sales
Warner Bros. Publications

Question: I called Luck's Music Library to purchase Janacek's Taras Bulba and was told that this music was rental only through European American Music. I was then told to contact Warner Brothers. How are these two publishers connected? Are you the same publisher?

Answer: Warner Bros.Miami warehouses and sells the European American product for them. The different publishers that make up European American still control their editorial decisions and also print the books themselves. We are their shipping and selling arm in the US and Canada. We also do their rentals for them. If you need to rent something, call 800-327-7643 and talk to Stu at extension 1685.

Mike Green

Question: Do you publish or hire an orchestral arrangement of the 20th Century Fox Fanfare by Alfred Newman, or do you know where I can get one?

Answer: Thank you for contacting Alfred Publishing. I have no information at all on this piece by this arranger. Unfortunately it appears that this piece may have gone permanently out of print before we received the copyright through our acquisition of Warner Brothers Publications. Warner Brothers did not keep archival copies of their out of print materials, so we actually never received a copy to reproduce. You may want to contact the rental library of European American Music Distributors to see if they have this piece. Their contact information is as follows:

Amy Dickinson
Hire Library Manager
European American Music Distributors LLC