LALO Schifrin, the composer who wrote the theme for Mission: Impossible has died aged 93.
Schifrin’s son Ryan confirmed that the legend died due to complications from pneumonia. He died peacefully in his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by family.
Lalo Schifrin appears at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles in 2018[/caption]
The Argentine won four Grammys and was nominated for six Oscars, including five for original score for Cool Hand Luke, The Fox, Voyage of the Damned, The Amityville Horror and The Sting II.
He also wrote the grand finale musical performance for the World Cup championship in Italy in 1990, in which the Three Tenors Plcido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and Jos Carreras sang together for the first time.
The work became one of the biggest sellers in the history of classical music.
The talent jazz pianist and classical conductor worked alongside fellow legends Dizzy Gillespie and recorded with Count Basie and Sarah Vaughan.
But perhaps his biggest contribution was the instantly recognizable score to TV’s Mission: Impossible, starring Tom Cruise.
Written in the unusual 5/4 time signature, the theme Dum-dum DUM DUM dum-dum DUM DUM was married to an on-screen self-destruct clock that kicked off the TV show, which ran from 1966 to 1973.
It was described as “only the most contagious tune ever heard by mortal ears” by New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane.
It also hit No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968.
Schifrin originally wrote a different piece of music for the theme song but series creator Bruce Geller liked another arrangement Schifrin had composed for an action sequence.
The legend said about the theme tune: “The producer called me and told me, ‘You’re going to have to write something exciting, almost like a logo, something that will be a signature, and its going to start with a fuse.’
“So I did it and there was nothing on the screen. And maybe the fact that I was so free and I had no images to catch, maybe that’s why this thing has become so successful because I wrote something that came from inside me.”
Hans Zimmer took over scoring for the second film, and Michael Giacchino scored the next two. Giacchino told NPR he was a hesitant to take it on, because Schifrins music was one of his favorite themes of all time.
Mission: Impossible won Grammys for best instrumental theme and best original score from a motion picture or a TV show.
In 2017, the theme was entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
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