Theme Music
Scherzo for Today was used as the program's closing theme until 1990, and the Mission bumpers were used until 1993. (One of them could be heard as a station break lead-in on NBC's Meet The Press until 2004.) The Today Show opening fanfare has opened the program ever since, with two exceptions. In the summer of 1994, to mark the debut of Studio 1A, the Williams-penned fanfare was replaced by another opening theme, but the Williams theme returned shortly thereafter. In 2004, the show's producers tried out yet another theme, which drew once again on the NBC chimes as its signature, but the Williams theme returned after only a few weeks. It is by far the most enduring theme in the program's history, having now been in use for over two decades.
The Scherzo for Today was iconically accompanied by Fred Facey announcing "From NBC News, this is Today..." until his death in April 2003, except for special editions requiring special introductions. Facey's work is now only heard on the MSNBC program Headliners and Legends.
Currently, a lighter theme employing the NBC chimes is used to open the show's 7:30 and 8:30 half-hour segments, and also used as a closing theme.
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Famous quotes containing the words theme and/or music:
“The saying, “The Magyar is much too lazy to be bored,” is worth thinking about. Only the most subtle and active animals are capable of boredom.—A theme for a great poet would be God’s boredom on the seventh day of creation.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory.”
—Thomas Beecham (1879–1961)