Jerry Goldsmith’s Planet of the Apes

For our latest Legends event, we examine a highly-requested piece of film and film music history: Jerry Goldsmith’s 1968 score to Planet of the Apes. Starring Charlton Heston, this science fiction classic tells the tale about an astronaut crew crash-landing on a planet in the distant future where talking apes roam the planet. The movie garnered two Academy Award nominations (including one for Best Original Score for Goldsmith) as well as numerous other distinctions, and appears regularly in the American Film Institute rankings from movies of this period and in this genre.

Along with study leader William Malpede, we welcome veteran percussionist Emil Richards, who played percussion on the original score for the movie. Emil has a long history in the industry, having played with Charles Mingus, Perry Como, George Harrison, Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, Doris Day, Judy Garland, Nelson Riddle, Sarah Vaughan, and numerous others. He shares insights from his long career as well as stories about working with Goldsmith and the recording of Planet of the Apes. Emil is a vital link to this piece of film music history.