Lalo Schifrin

Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, and conductor whose jazz-inflected scores include the themes for Mission: Impossible and Mannix.

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Mission: Impossible theme: The theme composed by Lalo Schifrin for the 1966 television series Mission: Impossible. Its five-beat pulse became Schifrin’s best-known signature in television music.
Jazz orchestra: An ensemble that performs jazz using sections of brass, woodwinds, and rhythm instruments. Schifrin used big-band colors and ensemble writing in concert and screen music.
Buenos Aires: The capital and largest city of Argentina. Schifrin was born and began his musical life in this city.
Clint Eastwood: An American actor and filmmaker who directed and starred in films scored by Lalo Schifrin. Their collaborations include Coogan’s Bluff, Dirty Harry, and The Enforcer.
Mannix: An American television detective series broadcast from 1967 to 1975, with music by Lalo Schifrin. Schifrin’s theme gave this detective series a distinctive blend of jazz and action.
Jazz harmony: The chord structures and progressions used in jazz, often featuring extensions and altered tones. Its rich chords supply a recognizable harmonic vocabulary in Schifrin’s scores.
Paris Conservatory: A leading French music institution formally known as the Conservatoire de Paris. Schifrin studied composition and conducting there after leaving Argentina.
Bruce Lee: A Hong Kong-American martial artist and actor who starred in Enter the Dragon. Schifrin composed the score for Lee’s internationally influential martial-arts film.
Bullitt: A 1968 crime film directed by Peter Yates and scored by Lalo Schifrin. Its score pairs jazz colors with the film’s modern San Francisco setting.
Ostinato: A short musical pattern repeated persistently through a passage or composition. Repeated figures help drive the tension and forward motion of his screen themes.