Hoyt Curtain’s compositional process

Hoyt Curtin (1922-2000) was the primary composer for the Hanna Barbara studios. Popular theme songs he composed include The Flintstones, Top Cat, The Jetsons, Johnny Quest, Superfriends, Josie and the Pussycats, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, and The Smurfs.  Of these, his favourite was The Flintsones, “I guess because it is a kick to hear musicians jamming it”. (1)

Curtin’s first collobaration with Hanna and Barbara gives an insight into his compositional process.  They were producing a beer commercial in 1957:

About two weeks later they called and had a lyric they read over the phone. Could I write a tune for it? I called back in 5 minutes and sang it to them … silence … uh oh, I bombed out … the next thing I heard was a deal to record it! Ruff & Reddy. At that moment they had quit at MGM and started their own company. All of our first main titles were done in that fashion. Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, etc.(2)

(1) Hoyt Curtin, in an interview with Gary Karpinski, 1999: http://www.classicjq.com/info/HoytCurtinInterview.shtml. Accessed 11 April 2011.
(2) Ibid.

Posted

in

by

Greg

Tags:

, ,

Featured Content

The Rink
Title: The Rink (Silent film soundtrack) Composer: Greg Smith Performer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Piano Product medium: MP3 soundtrack     Related products:     – The Rink – PDF score TRACK LISTING AND SAMPLES: TRACK TITLE LENGTH SAMPLE 1. Papa and Edna 0:55 2. Lunch order 2:03 3. Cocktails 1:34 4. Kitchen scurry 0:25 5. The flirty Mr and […]
Some curious devices
In the late nineteenth-century, some quite curious mechanical inventions were created to deal with the body with relation to pianists and conductors.    The following is an account of a presentation by T. L. Southgate on The Physiology of Pianoforte Piano. The paper presented was written by W. Macdonald Smith.  This account appeared in the […]
Climbing Mount Fuji with a cello in hand
“In 2007 Italian cellist Mario Brunello climbed to the summit of Mount Fuji and played selections from Bach’s cello suites, declaring that “Bach’s music comes closest to the absolute and to perfection.” Source: Siblin, Eric (2009) The Cello Suites. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. p.6.
Advice to opera performers
In the early 18th century, the standard of Italian opera performances had become somewhat questionable. In 1720, The satirical writer Marcello offered some advice to those involved in opera performance: [The opera performer] will hurry or slow down the pace of an aria, according to the caprice of the singers, and will conceal the displeasure […]
Richter on Scriabin
“Scriabin isn’t the sort of composer whom you’d regard as your daily bread, but is a heady liqueur on which you can get drunk periodically, a poetical drug, a crystal that’s easily broken.” -Sviatoslav Richter, pianist Monsaingeon, Bruno (2001). Sviatoslav Richter: Notebooks and Conversations. Princeton University Press, p.267 Cited at: Wikipedia
Borodin transposing
Excerpts from Borodin’s Prince Igor were to be performed by the Free College of Music. Rimsky Korsakov recalled: At this epoch, Prince Igor advanced slowly, but advanced nevertheless. How many prayers I addressed to dear Borodine that he might finally decide to orchestrate a few numbers for the concert! His numerous occupations at the Medical […]
Mozart’s daily schedule
“…at 6 o’clock in the morning I’m already done with my hair; at 7 I’m fully dressed; – then I compose until 9 o’clock; from 9 to 1 o’clock I give lessons. – Then I Eat, unless I’m invited by someone who doesn’t eat lunch until 2 or 3 o’clock as, for instance, today and […]
Tchaikovsky’s compositional process
“You ask if in composing this symphony I had a special programme in view. To such questions regarding my symphonic works I generally answer: nothing of the kind. In reality it is very difficult to answer this question. How interpret those vague feelings which pass through one during the composition of an instrumental work, without […]
Pierrot Lunairre
A performance of Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire was given by Artur Schnabel (piano), Boris Kroyt (violin), Gregor Piatigorsky (cello), Paul Bose (flute), Marie Gutheil-Schoder (speaker), conducted by Fritz Stiedry. Gregor Piatigorsky was amused at the need for a conductor, given the size of the ensemble: The half-spoken, half-sung voice indicated in the score was partly filled […]
Beauty captivates the flesh
Beauty captivates the flesh, seeking permission to pass directly to the soul. — Simone Weil S. Weil, G Panichas (ed.) The Simone Weil Reader, New York, McKay, 1977, p. 378.