Georges Vander

Georges Vander was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1887. He showed an early interest in music, and studied violin and harmony at the Brussels Conservatory. In 1910, he joined the orchestra of the French Opera House in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he performed as a soloist and conductor. During World War I, Vander served in the Belgian army as a musician, and after the war, he worked as a composer and conductor in Europe and the United States. He also began to experiment with film music, working on several silent films in the 1920s. In 1929, Vander moved to Hollywood, California, where he worked as a composer for various film studios. He became known for his ability to work quickly and effectively, producing scores for up to five films a week. He also introduced new techniques to film scoring, such as the use of leitmotifs and underscoring. Vander's most famous work is the score for the 1942 film Casablanca, which he co-wrote with Max Steiner. The score includes the famous song "As Time Goes By," which Vander arranged and conducted. Vander continued to work in Hollywood until his death in 1962, composing scores for more than 350 films. He is remembered as one of the pioneers of film scoring, and his contributions to the field continue to influence composers and filmmakers to this day.