Aug 3, 2017
Film composer Daniel Licht passed away on August 2nd after a short struggle with a rare form of sarcoma, a cancer. His passing came just weeks after it was discovered.
Dan was best known for his hauntingly ironic music for Showtime’s macabre detective series DEXTER, where he combined such found “instruments” such as knives, duct tape, saws, scissors and human bones with more conventional chamber ensemble employed for the episodes.
In his early days in Hollywood, Dan worked with Christopher Young on a number of films until he established himself as a credible composer in his own right. Unsurprisingly many of his early scores were in the horror genres, as he followed in his mentor’s footsteps films like HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE, Stephen King’s THINNER, and AMITYVILLE: NEXT GENERATION. In later years he spread out and scored comedies, mysteries, thrillers, but still enjoyed a bit of musical morbidity from time to time, which he bestowed with great instrumental “dexterity” over eight seasons of DEXTER, from 2006-2013.
Daniel’s “irreverent style also caught the attention of auteur indie directors like Alex Cox and Gregg Araki for whom he scored the films THE WINNER and SPLENDOR. Among the hundreds of hours of television Dan scored were the series DECEPTION, BODY OF PROOF, THE RED ROAD, and GUILT. He was also a notable presence in the world of games, winning awards for his score to Dishonored, Dishonored 2, Silent Hill: Book Of Memories and Downpour.
– from a posting by Evolution Music Partners (read entire obit here)
Read a 2012 interview with Licht that covered some of his genre film and game scores – here.
Watch a video interview about Daniel’s sci-fi scoring and his work on DEXTER – here.
Watch a segment from his live concert at the Krakow Film Music Festival a couple of years ago – Daniel Licht conducts and performs music from DEXTER:
