Lalo Schifrin goes from composing to de-composing—dead at 93 (Just imagine how long he would have lived, if not for apartheid! Videos)

Schifrin conducting (circa 1980)

By Grand Rapids Anonymous
thursday, june 26, 2025 at 7:17:00 p.m. edt

Lalo Schifrin goes from composing to de-composing—dead at 93

Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series) Intro 4K & HQ Sound

I don’t think any show—not even Hawaii 5-0—ever benefited as much from its theme as Mission: Impossible did. ​Where’s Martin Landau in the credits?! I see Landau at 0:14, but not in the credits. He must have gotten a special mention at the beginning of the episode.

Mission Impossible (1966) Pilot Intro

I re-posted this sequence because, at 3:43, Schifrin introduced a set of dramatic cues that would feature prominently in every episode

ass[ociated] press:
Lalo Schifrin, the composer who wrote the endlessly catchy theme for Mission: Impossible and more than 100 other arrangements for film and television, died thursday. he was 93.

“Schifrin’s sons William and Ryan confirmed his death to trade outlets. the associated press’ messages to Schifrin’s publicist and representatives for either brother were not immediately returned [GRA:I wouldn't return a.p.'s call either].

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.

“‘every movie has its own personality. there are no rules to write music for movies,’ Schifrin told the associated press in 2018. ‘the movie dictates what the music will be.

“he also wrote the grand finale musical performance for the world cup championship in italy in 1990, in which the Three Tenors — Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras — sang together for the first time. the work became one of the biggest sellers in the history of classical music.

“Schifrin, also a jazz pianist and classical conductor, had a remarkable career in music that included working with Dizzy Gillespie and recording with Count Basie and Sarah Vaughan [GRA: Leave it to ass press to bring up negroes in a White man’s obit] but perhaps his biggest contribution was the instantly recognizable score to television’s Mission: Impossible, which fueled the just-wrapped, decades-spanning feature film franchise led by Tom Cruise.

“written in the unusual 5/4 time signature, the theme 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 and even 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.

[N.S.: You don’t “compose” an arrangement.]

“‘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 it’s going to start with a fuse,”’ Schifrin told the ap in 2006. ‘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.’”

GRA: The music of 1950s, ‘60s and early ‘70s movie soundtracks and tv shows was brilliant. There must be a reason so many great musicians all appeared in one period. They wouldn’t be allowed to in 2025.

--GRA


“Cool Hand Luke | Soundtrack Suite (Lalo Schifrin)”