Jerry Bock, the composer of the musicals Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello! and She Loves Me, passed away yesterday at the age of 81. Born in 1928, Bock wrote his first musical in high school (My Dream) and then collaborated with a university classmate Larry Holofcener on a series of musicals. Following this, Bock met lyricist Sheldon Harnick and the pair collaborated on a strong of musicals including the three mentioned above
as well as Tenderloin, The Apple Tree and The Rothschilds. The Jerry Bock Award for Excellence in Musical Theater was established in 1997 and is an annual grant presented in honour of the composer to a composer and lyricist at the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. Here is the trailer for the film version of Fiddler on the Roof, featuring some of the transcendent music composed for that score by Bock:

Rest in Peace.