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Lalo Schifrin

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Lalo Schifrin
Schifrin in Cologne, Germany, July 2006
Schifrin in Cologne, Germany, July 2006
Background information
Birth nameBoris Claudio Schifrin
Born(1932-06-21)June 21, 1932
Buenos Aires, Argentina
DiedJune 26, 2025(2025-06-26) (aged 93)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • composer
  • arranger
  • conductor
Instruments
  • Piano
  • keyboards
Years active1952–2025
Labels
Spouse(s)Sylvia Schor (1958–) (divorced)
Donna Cockrell (1971–)

Lalo Schifrin (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlalo ˈʃifɾin];[1] born Boris Claudio Schifrin; June 21, 1932 – June 26, 2025) was an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He was best known for his large body of film and television scores, which incorporate jazz and Latin American musical elements alongside traditional orchestration.

Schifrin's best known compositions include the themes from Mission: Impossible (1966) and Mannix (1967), as well as the scores to Cool Hand Luke (1967), Bullitt (1968), THX 1138 (1971), Enter the Dragon (1973), The Four Musketeers (1974), Voyage of the Damned (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), The Amityville Horror (1979) and the Rush Hour trilogy (1998–2007). Schifrin was also noted for collaborations with Clint Eastwood from the late 1960s to the 1980s, particularly the Dirty Harry film series. He composed the Paramount Pictures fanfare used from 1976 to 2004.

Schifrin was a five-time Grammy Award winner; he was nominated for six Academy Awards and four Emmy Awards. In 2019, he received an Honorary Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in recognition of his successful career.

Life and career

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Early life and education

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Schifrin was born in Buenos Aires on June 21, 1932[2][3] as Boris Claudio.[4] The nickname "Lalo" was the normal Argentine diminutive for his second name, Claudio. When he came to the U.S., he changed his name to Lalo legally to simplify his contracts.[5]

His father, Luis Schifrin, led the second violin section of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic for three decades.[4][6] His father was Jewish and his mother Catholic, exposing him early to both kinds of worship.[7] At age six, Schifrin began a six-year course of study on piano with Enrique Barenboim, the father of pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim. Schifrin began studying piano with the Greek-Russian expatriate Andrea Karalin, the onetime head of the Kyiv Conservatory and harmony with Juan Carlos Paz.[6] During this time, Schifrin also became interested in jazz.[5]

Although Schifrin studied sociology and law at the University of Buenos Aires, he became more interested in music.[4] At age 20, he successfully applied for a scholarship to the Conservatoire de Paris where he studied from 1952, including with Olivier Messiaen[6] and Charles Koechlin.[2] He also studied African drumming.[7] At night, he played jazz in Paris clubs.[6] In 1955 Schifrin played piano with bandoneon player Ástor Piazzolla and represented his country at the International Jazz Festival in Paris.[8]

1956–1963: Jazz composer

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After returning to Argentina in his twenties, Schifrin formed a jazz big band[6] of 16 players that became part of a popular weekly variety show on Buenos Aires TV. He also began accepting film, television and radio assignments. In 1956 he met Dizzy Gillespie[6] and offered to write an extended work for Gillespie's big band. Schifrin completed the work, Gillespiana, in 1958[4] and it was recorded in 1960.[6]

While in New York City in 1960, Schifrin again met Gillespie, who had by this time disbanded his big band for financial reasons. Gillespie invited Schifrin to fill the vacant piano chair in his quintet. Schifrin immediately accepted and moved to New York City, as Gillespie's pianist and arranger.[6][7] Schifrin wrote a second extended composition for Gillespie, The New Continent, which was recorded in 1962.[6] On May 26, 1963, he recorded an album, Buenos Aires Blues, with Duke Ellington's alto saxophonist, Johnny Hodges. Schifrin wrote two compositions for the album; Dreary Blues and the title track B. A. Blues.

1964–1989: Film composer

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In 1963 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which had Schifrin under contract, offered the composer his first Hollywood film assignment with the African adventure Rhino![4] Schifrin moved to Los Angeles.[6][7] He became a naturalized US citizen in 1969.[7]

Record of Mission: Impossible theme
Record of Mission: Impossible theme

One of Schifrin's most recognizable and enduring compositions is the theme music for the long-running TV series Mission: Impossible that started in 1966.[6] It is a distinctive tune written in the uncommon 5
4 time signature.[6] The meter (dash dash, dot dot) is Morse code for the letters M and I. Similarly Schifrin's theme for the Mannix private eye TV show was composed in 1967 as a jazz waltz;[6] Schifrin composed several other jazzy and bluesy numbers over the years as additional incidental music for the show.[9]

Schifrin's "Tar Sequence" from his Cool Hand Luke score (written in 6
4) was the longtime theme for the Eyewitness News broadcasts on New York station WABC-TV and other ABC affiliates, as well as Nine News in Australia; it was used into the 1990s.[6] CBS Television used part of the theme of his St. Ives soundtrack for its golf broadcasts in the 1970s and early 1980s. Schifrin's score for the 1968 film Coogan's Bluff was the beginning of a long association with Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel.[10] Schifrin's strong jazz-blues riffs were evident in Dirty Harry.[11] The jazzy Bullitt score for this Peter Yates directed film was recorded in December of the same year.[12] In 1973 he incorporated funk and traditional film score elements into soundtrack for the Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon.[13] He composed the score by sampling sounds from China, Korea, and Japan. The soundtrack has sold over 500,000 copies, earning a gold record.[14]

Schifrin's working score for 1973's The Exorcist was rejected by the film's director, William Friedkin.[15] Schifrin had written six minutes of difficult and heavy music for the initial film trailer, but audiences were reportedly frightened by the combination of sights and sounds.[15] As reported by Schifrin in an interview, Warner Bros. executives told Friedkin to instruct Schifrin to tone it down with softer music, but Friedkin did not relay the message.[15] Schifrin said that working on the film was one of the most unpleasant experiences in his life.[15] He later reused the compositions in other scores.[15] In 1976 he released a single called "Jaws", a version of the John Williams theme from the Universal Pictures film Jaws, on CTI (Creed Taylor Incorporated) records. The single spent nine weeks on the UK chart, peaking at number 14.[16] He also composed the 1976 fanfare for Paramount Pictures, which was used mainly for their home video label and was adapted for the television division 11 years later until it was renamed to CBS Paramount Television (now CBS Studios) in 2006.[17] In 1981 he wrote the music for the slapstick comedy film Caveman.[18]

1990–2025

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In the 1990s, Schifrin wrote many of the arrangements for The Three Tenors concerts,[6] beginning with their first concert in Rome in 1990 on the eve of the FIFA World Cup final.[2] In the 1998 film Tango, he returned to tango music, with which he had grown familiar while working as Piazzolla's pianist in the mid-1950s. He brought traditional tango songs to the film, as well as introducing compositions of his own, in which tango is fused with jazz elements.[19]

He founded Aleph Records in 1998.[6] Schifrin made a cameo appearance in the 2002 film Red Dragon.[20] He is widely sampled in hip-hop and trip-hop songs including Heltah Skeltah's "Prowl" and Portishead's "Sour Times". Both songs sample Schifrin's "Danube Incident", one of many themes he composed for specific episodes of the Mission: Impossible TV series. In 2003, Schifrin was commissioned to compose a classical work entitled Symphonic Impressions of Oman by Sultan Qaboos bin Said. In 2004, he wrote the main theme for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, a stealth game published by Ubisoft.

On April 23, 2007, Schifrin presented a concert of film music for the Festival du Film Jules Verne Aventures (Festival Jules Verne), at Le Grand Rex theatre in Paris–Europe's biggest movie theater.[21][22] It was recorded by festival leaders for a CD named Lalo Schifrin: Le Concert à Paris. In 2010, a fictionalized account of Lalo Schifrin's creation of the "Theme from Mission: Impossible" tune was featured in a Lipton TV commercial aired in a number of countries around the world.[23]

After Rod Schejtman won the 2024 Vienna WorldVision Composers Contest,[24] Schifrin in 2024 invited him to jointly compose a symphony dedicated to their country.[25] They composed a 35-minute symphony in three movements, subtitled "Long Live Freedom",[6] for an orchestra of nearly 100 musicians. Intending it as a tribute to Argentina, they drew inspiration from the nation's history over the past 40 years and fused cinematic and classical elements.[25][26] The symphony premiered at the Teatro Colón on April 5, 2025.[6]

Personal life

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Schifrin married Sylvia Schor in Buenos Aires in 1958; they had two children[27][28][29] The marriage ended in divorce.[2] He married Donna Cockrell in 1971; they had a son. His second wife managed his business and record label.[2][6]

In 2008 Schifrin wrote an autobiography, Mission Impossible: My Life in Music.[6][30] He said:

In music, the choices are infinite. The possibilities of sound combinations with the acoustic instruments of a symphony orchestra, a jazz band or a chamber ensemble have not yet been exhausted. What has been done in the field of electronic music so far has not even scratched the surface of a vast continent to be explored.[6]

Schifrin died from complications of pneumonia at a hospital in Los Angeles, on June 26, 2025, at age 93.[6][31][32]

Works

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Discography

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Main article: Lalo Schifrin discography

Selected filmography

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Film

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Television

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Video game

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Awards and nominations

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Schifrin won five Grammy Awards (four Grammy Awards and a Latin Grammy), with twenty-two nominations, one CableACE Award and received six Academy Award and four Primetime Emmy Award nominations. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2016, it was announced that his Mission: Impossible theme was to be inducted into the Grammy Award Hall of Fame. In 2018, Clint Eastwood presented him with an Academy Honorary Award "in recognition of his unique musical style, compositional integrity and influential contributions to the art of film scoring."[6]

Year Association Category Project Result Ref.
1967 Academy Awards Best Original Score Cool Hand Luke Nominated [35]
1968 The Fox Nominated [36]
1976 Voyage of the Damned Nominated [42]
1979 The Amityville Horror Nominated [44]
1980 Best Original Song "People Alone" (from The Competition) Nominated [58]
1983 Best Original Score The Sting II Nominated [59]
2018 Academy Honorary Award Honored [60]
1976 Golden Globe Awards Best Original Score Voyage of the Damned Nominated [45]
1979 The Amityville Horror Nominated [45]
1980 The Competition Nominated [45]
1966 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition The Making of a President: 1964 Nominated [33]
1967 Mission: Impossible Nominated [61]
1968 Mission: Impossible (Episode: "The Seal") Nominated [62]
1969 Mission: Impossible (Episode: "The Heir Apparent") Nominated [63]
1962 Grammy Awards Best Original Jazz Composition Gillespiana Nominated [64]
1963 Tunisian Fantasy Nominated [65]
1965 "The Cat" (from Joy House) Won [66]
1966 Jazz Suite on the Mass Texts Won [67]
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Nominated
1967 Best Original Jazz Composition Marquis De Sade Nominated [68]
1968 Best Instrumental Performance Theme from Mission: Impossible Nominated [69]
Best Instrumental Composition Won
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media Mission: Impossible Won
1969 Best Theme Composition Theme from The Fox Nominated [70]
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media The Fox Nominated
1971 Best Instrumental Composition Theme from Medical Center Nominated [71]
Best Instrumental Arrangement Nominated
1994 Dizzy Gillespie Fireworks Nominated [72]
1997 Charlie Parker: The Firebird (Medley) Nominated [73]
Best Pop Instrumental Performance Theme from Mission: Impossible Nominated
1999 Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media Rush Hour Nominated [74]
2000 Best Instrumental Arrangement Fiesta Nominated [75]
2002 Scheherazade Fantasy Nominated [76]
2000 Latin Grammy Award Best Latin Jazz Album Latin Jazz Suite Nominated [77]
2006 Best Tango Album Letters from Argentina Nominated [77]
2010 Best Classical Contemporary Composition Pampas Won [77]
2011 Romerías Nominated [77]

References

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  1. ^ Team, Forvo. "Lalo Schifrin pronunciation: How to pronounce Lalo Schifrin in Spanish". Forvo.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Sweeting, Adam (June 27, 2025). "Lalo Schifrin obituary". The Guardian.
  3. ^ "Lalo Schifrin, composer of 'Mission: Impossible' score, dies aged 93". France 24. June 27, 2025. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e Huey, Steve. "Lalo Schifrin". AllMusic. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  5. ^ a b Brown, Royal S. (April 28, 2023), Overtones and Undertones: Reading Film Music, University of California Press, pp. 314–321, ISBN 978-0-520-91477-3
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Burlingame, Jon (June 26, 2025). "Lalo Schifrin, Prolific Film Composer Who Wrote 'Mission: Impossible' Theme, Dies at 93". Variety. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e Burk, Greg (May 22, 2003). "Lalo Schifrin Swings". L.A. Weekly. LA Weekly. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  8. ^ Rose, Mike (March 28, 2020). "Lalo Schifrin (born 1932)". National Jazz Archive. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  9. ^ "Mannix [Original Soundtrack] – Lalo Schifrin". Retrieved June 28, 2025 – via www.allmusic.com.
  10. ^ a b c d "Lalo Schifrin, acclaimed composer of film, classical and jazz works, dies at 93". Experience the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. June 26, 2025. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  11. ^ "Dirty Harry - Full Cast & Crew". TV Guide. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  12. ^ "Bullitt [Music from the Motion Picture]". AllMusic. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  13. ^ Guarisco, Donald. "Lalo Schifrin: Enter the Dragon [Music from the Motion Picture] – Review". All Music Guide. Archived from the original on July 26, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  14. ^ Fu, Poshek (2008). Fu, Poshek (ed.). "China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema". www.press.uillinois.edu. University of Illinois Press. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  15. ^ a b c d e Hooton, Christopher. "The deranged, rejected The Exorcist score that the director literally threw out the window". The Independent. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  16. ^ "JAWS". Official Charts. October 9, 1976.
  17. ^ "Lalo Schifrin Certainly Had A Snappy Musical Signature". Hollywood Elsewhere. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  18. ^ "Caveman (1981) – Credits". AFI Catalogue. Retrieved July 1, 2025.
  19. ^ "Sony Pictures. Tango: The Production. Production notes". Sonypictures.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2002. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  20. ^ Goldberg, Madison E. (June 26, 2025). "Lalo Schifrin, Mission: Impossible and Dirty Harry Composer, Dies at 93". People. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  21. ^ "festival du film jules verne aventures – Arts et Culture". Sortir à Paris (in French). Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  22. ^ Bellevue, Flavien (April 24, 2007). "Concert exceptionnel de Lalo Schifrin". Écran Large (in French). Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  23. ^ "Lipton Yellow Label Tea: Mission Impossible?". Popsop. Archived from the original on June 1, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  24. ^ "Composer Rod Schejtman takes Argentina to finals of World Cup of Classical Music". Buenos Aires Times. October 2024. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Lalo Schifrin y Rod Schejtman se unen para crear una sinfonía inspirada en la historia Argentina". Perfil (in Spanish). September 16, 2024. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  26. ^ "Schejtman & Schiffrin: Argentine Composers Honoring History". Lincoln School. October 30, 2024. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  27. ^ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jun/27/lalo-schifrin-obituary
  28. ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/arts/music/lalo-schifrin-dead.html
  29. ^ Obituaries, Telegraph (June 27, 2025). "Lalo Schifrin, versatile composer best known for his thrilling theme for Mission: Impossible". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 2, 2025 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  30. ^ Schifrin, Lalo (June 27, 2008). Mission Impossible. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5946-3.
  31. ^ "Lalo Schifrin, composer of jazzy 'Mission: Impossible' score, dies at 93". The Washington Post. June 26, 2025. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
  32. ^ Gervasoni, Pierre (June 27, 2025). "Mort du compositeur Lalo Schifrin, étoile musicale d'Hollywood". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved July 2, 2025.
  33. ^ a b "18th Primetime Emmy Awards". Television Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  34. ^ Simmons, Jacob (June 30, 2025). "'Mission: Impossible' and the countdown to action". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  35. ^ a b "40th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 4, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  36. ^ a b "41st Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 4, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  37. ^ Schifrin, Lalo; Dominguez, Juanjo (2012). Che! music from and inspired by the motion picture "Che" (in no linguistic content). [Encino (Calif.)]; [France]: Aleph records ; [Distrib. Naïve distribution]. OCLC 812506237.
  38. ^ "Kelly's Heroes: Lalo Schifrin: Film Music on the Web CD Reviews Summer 2005". MusicWeb Archive. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  39. ^ Schifrin, Lalo, THX 1138 : [original motion picture soundtrack, Culver City, Calif.: Film Score Monthly, OCLC 229123622
  40. ^ Schifrin, Lalo (2001), Enter the dragon music from the motion picture, [New York, NY]: Warner Bros. Records, OCLC 781334218
  41. ^ Schifrin, Lalo (1998), Dirty Harry anthology : original music from the soundtracks of Dirty Harry, Sudden Imapct [sic], and Magnum Force, S.L.: Aleph Records, OCLC 829672899
  42. ^ a b "49th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 5, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  43. ^ "Lalo SCHIFRIN Rollercoaster [MH]: Film Music CD Reviews- March 2001". MusicWeb Archive. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  44. ^ a b "52nd Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. March 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  45. ^ a b c d "Lalo Schifrin – Golden Globes". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  46. ^ "Catalog". AFI. September 24, 1982. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  47. ^ Schifrin, Lalo (2008), Sudden impact the original score : by Lalo Schifrin (in no linguistic content), [Encino (Calif.)], [France]: Aleph records ; [Distrib. Naïve distribution], OCLC 658449298
  48. ^ Schifrin, Lalo (1982), The sting II : music from the original motion picture soundtrack (in no linguistic content), Universal City, Calif.: MCA Records, OCLC 18880800
  49. ^ Wilmington, Michael (January 10, 1986). "MOVIE REVIEW : 'BLACK MOON RISING' SOARS WITH STARK, SWIFT ACTION". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  50. ^ Schifrin, Lalo (2009), The dead pool the original score (in no linguistic content), Beverly Hills, [France]: Ca : Aleph records ; [Distrib. Naïve distribution], OCLC 658650505
  51. ^ "Lalo SCHIFRIN Rush Hour : Film Music on the Web CD Reviews Jan 2000". MusicWeb Archive. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  52. ^ "Lalo SCHIFRIN Tango: Film Music on the Web CD Reviews Sept1999". MusicWeb Archive. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  53. ^ a b c "Lalo Schifrin, composer of Mission: Impossible theme and more than 100 film and TV scores, dies aged 93". The Guardian. Associated Press. June 27, 2025. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  54. ^ Bailey, Andy (July 3, 2025). "After The Sunset". Screen. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  55. ^ Schifrin, Lalo; Hagen, Earle (2005), Original music from Planet of the apes the tv series (in undetermined language), Intrada, OCLC 871926385
  56. ^ a b c Jay, Robert (June 27, 2025). "Lalo Schifrin (1931-2025)". Television Obscurities. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  57. ^ Staedeli, Thomas. "Lalo Schifrin, Filmkomponist by Thomas Staedeli". Autogramme / Autographen / Autographs by Cyranos Autogramm (in German). Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  58. ^ "53rd Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 5, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  59. ^ "56th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 4, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  60. ^ "91st Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. April 15, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  61. ^ "19th Primetime Emmy Awards". Television Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  62. ^ "20th Primetime Emmy Awards". Television Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  63. ^ "21st Primetime Emmy Awards". Television Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  64. ^ "4th Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  65. ^ "5th Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  66. ^ "7th Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  67. ^ "8th Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  68. ^ "9th Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  69. ^ "10th Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  70. ^ "11th Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  71. ^ "13th Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  72. ^ "36th Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  73. ^ "39th Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  74. ^ "41st Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  75. ^ "42nd Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  76. ^ "44th Annual Grammy Awards". Recording Academy. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  77. ^ a b c d "Lalo Schifrin | Artist | LatinGRAMMY.com". www.latingrammy.com. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
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