Mission Impossible Theme
Lalo Schifrin
Browse 1 Sheet
Sort:
Song library
Browse piano sheets by Lalo Schifrin on Zen Virtual Piano. Lalo Schifrin was born in Buenos Aires to a Jewish father, Luis, and a Catholic mother, Clara, and he attended services in both faiths. Law and sociology were what he studied at the University of Buenos Aires; at 22 he won a scholarship to the Paris Conservatoire. A student of law and sociology who won a scholarship to the Paris Conservatoire at 22 shows a musician's path that ran alongside, and then past, another course of study. He performed with his own orchestra at a dinner for Gillespie after attending a US embassy concert given by Dizzy Gillespie and the all-star State Department band. Hearing Gillespie's band at an embassy and then playing at a dinner for him has the feel of a door opening at the right moment, with a small step leading to a larger one. For the Mission: Impossible theme, he went home to work at his desk, rarely composing at the piano, to create a track with the working title Burning Fuse. Schifrin told The Wall Street Journal that the 5/4 tempo just came naturally, and that it is forceful and the listener never feels comfortable. The theme's motif of two long beats and two short ones spells M and I in Morse code. A theme built on a 5/4 pulse that never lets the listener settle shows how much one unusual meter can carry, and how little it needs besides a few short motifs. Schifrin's last major work, Long Live Freedom, debuted at the Teatro Colón in April 2025; the 35-minute symphony was written with the Argentinian composer Rod Schejtman and dedicated to their homeland. Clint Eastwood presented him with an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2018; he had won five Grammy awards and been nominated for Oscars on six occasions.
Browse piano sheets by Lalo Schifrin on Zen Virtual Piano.
Lalo Schifrin was born in Buenos Aires to a Jewish father, Luis, and a Catholic mother, Clara, and he attended services in both faiths. Law and sociology were what he studied at the University of Buenos Aires; at 22 he won a scholarship to the Paris Conservatoire. A student of law and sociology who won a scholarship to the Paris Conservatoire at 22 shows a musician's path that ran alongside, and then past, another course of study.
He performed with his own orchestra at a dinner for Gillespie after attending a US embassy concert given by Dizzy Gillespie and the all-star State Department band. Hearing Gillespie's band at an embassy and then playing at a dinner for him has the feel of a door opening at the right moment, with a small step leading to a larger one.
For the Mission: Impossible theme, he went home to work at his desk, rarely composing at the piano, to create a track with the working title Burning Fuse. Schifrin told The Wall Street Journal that the 5/4 tempo just came naturally, and that it is forceful and the listener never feels comfortable. The theme's motif of two long beats and two short ones spells M and I in Morse code. A theme built on a 5/4 pulse that never lets the listener settle shows how much one unusual meter can carry, and how little it needs besides a few short motifs.
Schifrin's last major work, Long Live Freedom, debuted at the Teatro Colón in April 2025; the 35-minute symphony was written with the Argentinian composer Rod Schejtman and dedicated to their homeland. Clint Eastwood presented him with an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2018; he had won five Grammy awards and been nominated for Oscars on six occasions.
Search the library
Common questions
Lalo Schifrin is a composer born in Buenos Aires who studied at the Paris Conservatoire, played piano in Dizzy Gillespie's ensemble for three years, and composed the Mission: Impossible theme.
Its motif of two long beats followed by two short ones spells M and I in Morse code, and the unusual 5/4 time signature helps it stay in the listener's head.
In April 2025 his Long Live Freedom, a 35-minute symphony written with Rod Schejtman, made its debut at the Teatro Colón.
He won five Grammy awards, was nominated for Oscars on six occasions, and received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2018.