Eldon Rathburn

Eldon Davis Rathburn CM (21 April 1916 – 30 August 2008) was a Canadian film composer who scored over 250 films during his 30-year tenure at the National Film Board of Canada. Called "the dean of Canadian film composers," Rathburn composed music for documentaries, short films, as well as such feature films as Drylanders (1963), Nobody Waved Good-bye (1964), Waiting for Caroline (1969) and Who Has Seen the Wind (1977). Rathburn was the subject of a 1995 NFB documentary Eldon Rathburn: They Shoot... He Scores.

After his retirement from the NFB in 1976, Rathburn continued to compose, with his work featured at the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival.

On April 14, 1999, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

Education

Rathburn received a Licentiate of Music from McGill University in 1937. The following year, he won the Canadian Performing Rights Society Scholarship Competition. From 1938-39, he studied composition at the Toronto Conservatory of Music with Healey Willan.

Personal life