Music
The 1961 series featured a jazz-influenced theme by John Dankworth. Library music was used sparsely as a soundtrack, sometimes with variations based on the main theme. Dankworth's theme music was reworked for the third series. Dankworth's first theme was recorded on the Columbia label, on a 45rpm single, and a new recording, similar to the reworked television theme was issued on Fontana. A very faithful cover version was released by Johnny Gregory. The episodes were recorded on video film.
When Rigg joined the series in 1965, new theme music by Laurie Johnson was introduced. This was based on a previously released title, on LP called "The Shake". For the colour series (1967), a percussion section was added, to accompany the new teaser sequence at the start of each episode. Johnson re-scored the theme when Linda Thorson joined the series, adding a counter melody on trumpet, based on the leitmotif for Tara King from the final Rigg episode "The Forget-Me-Knot". The new theme debuted in the closing titles of the episode "The Forget-Me-Knot", which introduced Thorson. It was altogether more dynamic, and included a much more frenetic percussion section, for the revised teaser sequence. Importantly, the filmed episodes contained specially composed scores by Johnson. To accompany Steed's request "Mrs Peel - you're needed!", he composed a brief 'sting', and there was also a special theme for 'Emma'. For the 'Thorson' series, a characteristic piece was composed to accompany the tag scene, at the end of each episode. Many of the most memorable cues from the Rigg/Thorson series, including the opening, and closing titles themes, and the 'Tag Scene' were released commercially on CD in 2009.
Owing to a professional commitment to score for the film Hot Millions (starring Peter Ustinov, and Maggie Smith), Johnson requested assistance from his keyboard player, Howard Blake, who scored some of the episodes of the final season, as well as additional music for other episodes which Johnson did not have time to complete. These were composed in a style remarkably similar to Johnson's, probably by request, or a sense of allegiance. In 2011, to mark the 50th Anniversary of the series, these almost complete scores by Blake, including Johnson's main, and end titles themes, were issued on a double CD set. Of the original Johnson theme, countless cover versions have been released on vinyl and CD, and the opening motif was retained on the series 'The New Avengers'.
Johnson subsequently collaborated with Clemens on other projects, including the theme for The New Avengers.
Read more about this topic: The Avengers (TV series)
Famous quotes containing the word music:
“See where my Love sits in the beds of spices,
Beset all round with camphor, myrrh, and roses,
And interlaced with curious devices
Which her apart from all the world incloses!
There doth she tune her lute for her delight,
And with sweet music makes the ground to move,
Whilst I, poor I, do sit in heavy plight,
Wailing alone my unrespected love;”
—Bartholomew Griffin (d. 1602)
“I fear I agree with your friend in not liking all sermons. Some of them, one has to confess, are rubbish: but then I release my attention from the preacher, and go ahead in any line of thought he may have started: and his after-eloquence acts as a kind of accompaniment—like music while one is reading poetry, which often, to me, adds to the effect.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“To know whether you are enjoying a piece of music or not you must see whether you find yourself looking at the advertisements of Pears’ soap at the end of the libretto.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)