{"id":1341,"date":"2026-04-03T18:24:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/?post_type=program_note&#038;p=1341"},"modified":"2026-04-04T14:51:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T14:51:22","slug":"theme-from-mission-impossible","status":"publish","type":"program_note","link":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/program_note\/theme-from-mission-impossible\/","title":{"rendered":"theme from Mission impossible"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not long after Schifrin\u2019s removal to Los Angeles, he was asked in 1966 to provide a theme for the new TV spy series, <em>Mission: Impossible<\/em>. The result was the catchy theme that became a signature for the 1966-73 series, starring Peter Graves.&nbsp; The story behind the theme is that Schifrin picked the Morse code rhythm for the letters, M and I.&nbsp; That is, dash dash, dot dot, generating a 5\/4 meter rhythm.&nbsp; The composer later said:&nbsp; \u201cI wanted a little humor, lightness, a theme that wouldn\u2019t take itself too seriously.&nbsp; There\u2019s something unpredictable about 5\/4.\u201d Add Schifrin\u2019s long engagement with and mastery of jazz and something with lasting musical appeal was born.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wm. E. Runyan<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0 \u00a9William E. Runyan 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"program_note_tax":[326],"class_list":["post-1341","program_note","type-program_note","status-publish","hentry","program_note_tax-lalo-schifrin"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note\/1341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/program_note"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"program_note_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note_tax?post=1341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}