Update: the producers of The Simpsons have issued a statement to Deadline, following the fall-out from news that long-serving composer Alf Clausen has been fired. The statement reads:
We tremendously value Alf Clausen’s contributions to the Simpsons and he will continue to have an ongoing role in the show. We remain committed to the finest in music for the Simpsons, absolutely including orchestral. This is the part where we would make a joke but neither Alf’s work nor the music of the Simpsons is treated as anything but seriously by us.
Here’s the original story from yesterday.
One of the stalwarts of The Simpsons has been its composer, Alf Clausen, who has worked on the show for 27 years, winning a pair of Emmys in the process. But Clausen has now revealed to Variety that he’s been sacked from the show.
The last work he did for The Simpsons was composing the score for the season 28 finale, that was screened earlier this year. Whether any of his work creeps into season 29 remains to be seen. Or heard.
Clausen learned the news from producer Richard Sakai, who called him to say that the show was looking for “a different kind of music” going forward. Variety reckons that Clausen’s firing is to do with cutting costs, given that he used a 35 piece orchestra to perform each score.
The theme music to the show, composed by Danny Elfman, is unaffected.