Profile- Henry Mancini

Henry Mancini was one of the most prolific film and television composers of all time. By the time of his death in 1994, he had received more Grammy award nominations than any other artist (this has later been surpassed by Quincy Jones). He is also one of the few film composers to have one of his arrangements become a #1 hit when his version of the “Theme from Romeo and Juliet” knocked the Beatles off the top spot in 1970. Mancini was equally respected among film critics, audiences, and popular music listeners. Of the great film composers, he stands with the top few whose music is a terrific listening experience outside of the context of the film.

However, much of Mancini’s impact seems to have been forgotten in the post-Star Wars era when big, symphonic scores returned to popularity. Film music, like any artform, has cycles, the symphonic (I daresay, classical) scores of the 1930s and 1940s gave way to rock and roll inspired scores in the late 1950s and 1960s. Disco music reigned in the soundtracks of the 1970s, until Star Wars returned the style to symphonic music. One could argue that, depending on the film genre, symphonic scores are still the norm (with added electronic elements).


Mancini, like many great composers, stands out because his music often stood out as contrary to the prevailing style of the time. What the general public remembers about Mancini are the Pink Panther and Peter Gunn scores, which are incredible, yet only a fraction of Mancini’s output. By examining Mancini’s work, we see he was quite versatile.



Mancini got his start in Hollywood working at Universal Studios as part of a composing team or music department that would write music for giant monster movies. Often in situations like this, members of a music department would be uncredited and the title of music supervisor would be the sole credit. It was not until the end of the 1950s with the Peter Gunn television show that Mancini’s work was noticed. Also, Peter Gunn was his first collaboration with producer-director Blake Edwards, a composer-director partnership that would serve Mancini for the rest of his career.


Today, listening to the Peter Gunn theme often reminds the listener of the James Bond sound. However, the influence actually went the other way. Peter Gunn premiered in 1958 and the James Bond series did not start until 1962. We could say that Mancini’s sound influenced the sound of the 1960s spy movies.


Many times, Mancini’s score would complement the films by providing a contrasting counterpoint to the comic action on screen. Consider cues like “Nothing To Lose” from The Party and “Piano and Strings” from The Pink Panther occur during outrageous comedies. Like subtext for dialogue, his music would highlight the underlying emotions amidst all the chaos.


Mancini was a master of jazz and pop orchestration. He actually wrote one of the few texts on the subject, Sounds and Scores, which I highly recommend. His use of string counterpoint and jazz harmonies were imitated heavily by other composers, especially in television. 


Despite his ability to layer sounds, his music never had to rely on complicated textures to evoke feelings. Often, a piece could be a piano melody with simple string pad beneath. A great example of this is “Hilly’s Theme” from Silver Streak. Some of his most notable melodies are recognizable within 5 notes. Consider “Moon River” takes about 3, “Pink Panther Theme” about 2, “Crazy World” about 3, etc.


In terms of Academy Awards, 1961-1962 were quite special for Mancini. He won best score and best song (“Moon River”) from Breakfast at Tiffany’s and then best song for “The Days of Wine and Roses” the following year. His final academy award was in 1982 for the Best Song Score for Victor/Victoria. In between, he was nominated for an award practically every single year. He won a best song Golden Globe for “Whistling Away The Dark” from Darling Lili in 1971 and was nominated for 9 others. Including one posthumous award, he earned 9 Grammy Awards out of 33 nominations.


Although his background was jazz, his classical sound could be quite evocative, many times having an Italian quality, which makes sense considering his heritage. A notable example of this is the Italian film Sunflower--no traces of jazz harmony or instrumentation, but unmistakably Mancini. Another outlier in his canon of films is Lifeforce from 1985. He jumped at the chance to work on a science fiction-horror movie when asked. The exciting title march fits well within the John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, and James Horner scores of the era.


Beyond his composing work, Mancini was also an accomplished performer, playing piano on most of his albums and soundtracks. His playing style is unlike that of any other pianist I have heard. When most pianists would play louder into the keys for a crescendo, he would back off with a lighter touch for the climaxes, as if he wanted the listener to be drawn in and listen closer.

If you have not listened to a Mancini score before, or if it has been some time, I highly recommend it. Almost all of them can be found on Youtube and most of them are available on CD if you prefer the old-fashioned way :)