Two-time Emmy winner has scored more than 560 episodes for the long-running Fox Television series.
Alf Clausen in ‘Simpsons’ form, courtesy of Fox Broadcasting.
The Simpsons composer Alf Clausen has been fired from his job providing original music for the Fox animated series, according to a report by Variety.
The two-time Emmy winner was let go on Wednesday after 27 years on the animated series, for which Clausen had scored more than 560 episodes.
Clausen reportedly told Variety he’d been called by Simpsons producer Richard Sakei, who told him they wanted “a different kind of music” moving ahead.
In all, the musician and composer has garnered 23 Emmy nominations for his work on the long-running series, receiving two awards in 1997 and 1998. Clausen also received seven Emmy nominations for his work on other television projects. He has also won five Annie Awards for his work for The Simpsons.
Variety reports that Clauson used a 35-piece orchestra for each week’s episodes -- a practice series creator Matt Groening insisted upon from the beginning of the show -- and that the costs for the original music ran into millions of dollars a year.
Clausen’s final score for The Simpsons was the season finale of Season 28, which aired in May. The Season 29 premiere is slated for October 1, but it is not yet clear who will be scoring that episode. Danny Elfman’s theme song for The Simpsons theme will be retained.
Head over to Variety to read the full story.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
