After 27 years of making jaunty cartoon music for The Simpsons, longtime composer Alf Clausen has been fired from the show.
Webtopnews confirmed a report by Variety that Clausen was let go by the show’s producers. The reason is not clear, but Variety reported that Clausen was told that the company was seeking “a different kind of music” and that he would no longer be scoring the hit animated series.
Clausen had been the sole composer for the show since 1990 through the end of the 28th season. The Simpsons used a 35-piece orchestra, which Clausen conducted, enabling the use of a wide variety of musical styles which the show required. The score was recorded weekly for each episode. Clausen did not compose the show’s iconic theme song — that was written by Danny Elfman – but he did a new arrangement of the theme for the show’s third season.
It’s not known who will be replacing Clausen for the show’s 29th season which premieres October 1 on Fox.
Clausen won two Emmys for The Simpsons, in 1997 and 1998, and received another 21 nominations for the show dating back to 1992. In all he received 30 Emmy nominations. He also won five Annie awards, all for The Simpsons.
Clausen has scored or orchestrated music for more than 30 films and TV shows, including Moonlighting, The Naked Gun, ALF and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
