Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is an American Western buddy film from 1969. Based loosely on a true story, the plot tells the story of Wild West outlaws of Butch and his partner, the “Sundance Kid”, who are on the run after a string of train robberies. In 2003, the film was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The film was ranked by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest American movies made, and one of the greatest Westerns of all time in 2008.

Burt Bacharach is the composer and conductor of the film’s soundtrack. The year of the film’s release marked one of the most successful years for Bacharach and he won an Academy, Golden Globe and Grammy award for Best Original Score. Asides from this, Bacharach composed hundreds of pop songs with lyricist, Hal David, and over 1000 different artists have recorded his songs. Bacharach and David wrote 73 US and 52 UK Top 40 hits, including ‘Raindrops Keeps Fallin’ on My Head’, ‘Close to You’ (The Carpenters), and ‘That’s what friends are for’ (Dionne Warwick).

Maki Gajic Murata, Composer in Residence