MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO, THE: THE BMI COMPOSER
INTERVIEWS {EARLE HAGEN}
Summary
One in this series of interviews with BMI composers on
the art of composing for television, conducted by The
Museum of Television & Radio. In this program,
assistant curator Allen Glover interviews Earle Hagen.
Hagen begins with a brief description of his early
years, during which he moved with his family from
Chicago to Los Angeles in the 1920s and graduated from
Hollywood High, where he first picked up the trombone
and began writing and arranging music. Hagen then
recounts the beginning of his career as a music
professional in the 1930s, both as a trombone player
with a succession of bands -- including the California
Collegians, Jack White's Club 18 band, the Benny
Goodman Orchestra, and Tommy Dorsey's band -- and as a
music arranger and composer, notably of the Duke
Ellington-inspired "Harlem Nocturne." Hagen then talks
about his work as a staff writer at CBS before World War
II and his years as a staff sergeant of the Air Corps
Radio Production Unit, the country's biggest big band
(based in Santa Ana, California). The discussion moves
to the post-war years and Hagen's work for legendary
film composer Alfred Newman at Twentieth Century Fox,
who hired him in late 1946 and for whom he worked on
films, including the noir classic "Kiss of Death" and
the musical "Carousel." Next, Hagen talks about his
partnership with Herbie Spencer, with whom he worked
on "Carousel"; the Spencer-Hagen Orchestra went on to
create the music for "The Danny Thomas Show" and "The
Ray Bolger Show" in the 1950s. Hagen went on to arrange
music for "The Andy Griffith Show" for series producer
Sheldon Leonard, with whom he would collaborate on
"The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Andy Griffith Show," and
"I Spy." Hagen talks about creating the themes for "The
Dick Van Dyke Show" and "The Andy Griffith Show," then
details the innovative production of "I Spy," from
Hagen's use of ethnic music from the countries he'd
visited on location scouting trips to its complicated
title sequence (created by Herb Clint of Format Films),
location shoots (including an episode filmed in Greece
in the aftermath of a military coup there), and filming
techniques, all of which illustrate what Hagen calls the
production's "invent as you go" ethos. Hagen also names
his favorite episode and explains how he gave the score
its ethnic flavor by using each culture's unique music
scales. Next, Hagen discusses his use of rock and
12-tone music for the "Mod Squad" series and his
creation of a music library for "Mary Hartman, Mary
Hartman." The conversation then moves to Hagen's career
as a teacher -- first from his home in the late 1950s;
then authoring a film score textbook in 1971; and
finally instructing at the BMI/National Academy of
Television Arts and Sciences Earle Hagen Workshop for
Film Scoring from 1986-96. The conversation continues
with discussions of Hagen's work arranging for producer
Ernie Frankel, Frank Sinatra, and Marilyn Monroe; a
description of the many lives of "Harlem Nocturne," from
its inception through its use as the theme of the "Mike
Hammer" series and later as a template for the BMI
course; a brief discussion of Hagen's music for "The
Andy Griffith Show," in particular the themes he wrote
for the show's main characters; and, finally, Hagen's
thoughts on electronics replacing human
instrumentalists.
The Museum wishes to thank Broadcast Music, Inc., for
making the BMI Composer Interviews possible.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: October 2, 2003
- RUNNING TIME: 0:53:31
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:78519
- GENRE: Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Composers; Motion picture music - Analysis, appreciation; Television music - Analysis, appreciation
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Allen Glover … Interviewer
- Earle Hagen … Guest
- Benny Goodman Orchestra
- California Collegians
- Herb Clint
- Tommy Dorsey
- Duke Ellington
- Ernie Frankel
- Sheldon Leonard
- Marilyn Monroe
- Alfred Newman
- Frank Sinatra
- Herbie Spencer
- Spencer-Hagen Orchestra
- Jack White