How many people have ever heard of Joseph Curiale? Mostly no one as far as I can tell. He is very much an outsider as far the classical music world is considered, writing music that sits quiet nicely within the cinematic genre. Some people describe his music as new age, but it is much more in line with Japanese-influenced movie score than anything.
You can check out his piece Gates of Gold here.
A Brief Overview of Curiale
Truth be told, I do not know much about Joseph Curiale. He does not seem to have a website of any type, his web presence in general is quite limited, and his musical output seems to have dropped off significantly since about 2005 or so. His biographical information is also surprisingly limited on Wikipedia, though it is indirectly supplemented by his apparent faculty position at the LASALLE College of the Arts in the School of Contemporary Music. Curiale also has a profile of sorts on IMDB, but activity in that avenue of music seems to have stopped in 1997.
What I find most striking is his significant humanitarian shift in 2006 when he founded the Joseph Curiale Foundation to help impoverished women and orphaned children in India caused by the mass suicides of Indian farmers. It is around that time where I begin having a hard time finding more current output from him—or any output, for that matter—but given the nature of his foundation, I would say he might be a little busy.
A bit about the piece
Gates of Gold is a dorky, lovable piece. It is so Hollywood that you cannot help but laugh. But its saving grace is twofold: the refreshing Japanese influence that permeates the entire piece, and the masterful orchestration. The first movement comes across almost as an orchestration exercise, exhibiting what Samuel Adler would describe as foreground, middle ground, and background in textbook accuracy.
The second movement is pleasant, and has some gorgeous colors throughout it, but it really is all about the third movement, Call of the Mountain. It is an amalgamation of the previous two movements, marrying the cinematic orchestra, flowing melodic lines, and subtle minimalism into what really is a formally interesting, compositionally enjoyable aural experience.