Acclaimed Hollywood composer Richard Horowitz has died aged 75.
The news was announced by his wife, the Iranian composer and singer Sussan Deyhim. She wrote that Horowitz passed away on April 13, calling him a “musical maverick, father, partner, lover, collaborator, friend, and singular human”.
“For those of you who didn’t know, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2021 and relocated to Morocco to live out the remainder of his life in a country he adored,” she wrote. “He was lovingly cared for by Sussan Deyhim, his partner in life and music of over 40 years, and was visited regularly by his daughter, Tamara Melnik and his grandchildren, as well as a coterie of nurses who were all kind to him.
“Much can be said about the musical legacy he left — including but not limited to, the co-creation of the Gnawa festival in Essaouira and countless awards — but he was much more than that to so many people. A seeker, a master linguist (most especially fond of a good double entendre), a master pianist and ney player, a humorist, trickster, a loving partner, father, and grandfather, sometimes a critical snob, a traveler and world citizen who believed in our shared humanity. He will be missed beyond measure or time and we ask that he continue to guide us in the melody and tone of the universe.”
Born in Buffalo, New York in 1949, Horowitz studied electronic music in Paris and the ney (a traiditional flute) in Morocco during the 1970s. After releasing a series of albums featuring the ney in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Horowitz would go on to discover two important creative partners: future wife Deyhim, and Jon Hassell.
Hassell and Horowitz toured together and created records such as ‘Power Spot’, whilst Horowitz released his official debut album ‘Eros in Arabia’ in 1981 under the pen name Drahcir Ztiworoh, receiving critical acclaim.
From there, Horowitz went on to collaborate with musicians such as David Byrne and Brian Eno, and also worked with Ryuichi Sakamoto on the soundtrack for romance film The Sheltering Sky (1990). Their work earned them a Golden Globe for Best Original Score.
Horowitz also co-founded the Gnawa and World Music Festival in Essaouira in 1998, and went on to score Oliver Stone’s 1999 sports thriller Any Given Sunday.