"The Mission" is an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

suite Suite may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition ** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach ** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó ** ''Suite' ...

composed by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

in 1985 as a

television news music Television news music is used by television stations to brand their news operations. Each television station uses an identifiable news theme; some themes are used by multiple stations while others are composed specifically for a certain station. ...

package for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

. It consists of four movements: ''The Mission'', used for '' NBC Nightly News'', with variations used for some other NBC programs, ''Fugue for Changing Times'', used for ''Before Hours'' during 1987–1988'', Scherzo for Today'', used for '' Today'' until 1990, and ''The Pulse of Events'', used by ''

Meet the Press ''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television news/interview program broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though the current format bears little resemblance to the debut episode on November 6, 1947. ' ...

'' and special

breaking news Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...

reports.

History

At the time Williams was approached to write the NBC News suite, he was already well known for his work on ''Star Wars'', ''Superman'', and ''

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, d ...

''. NBC engaged Williams due to the network's desire to contrast with the synthesized music common for news programs at the time. Williams stated he wanted to convey the concepts of nobility of purpose, consistency, and dignity. The original recordings were made with an 80-piece orchestra.

Movements

The suite consists of four movements. The original recording included two versions of each movement to open and close each show, and eleven bumpers conveying varying moods.

''The Mission''

The first movement is also called ''The Mission'', and has been used for '' NBC Nightly News'' since September 9, 1985. It has also been known as ''The Sound of the News''. Its opening features a distinctive

syncopated In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...

fanfare A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets, French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introduction to an instrumental perfo ...

over a violin line. A reviewer for ''Slate'' compared it to the work of

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

and Aaron Copland, and noted that the piece makes "you feel that you’ve been asked to join an exciting journey for truth.” ''The Mission'' was re-recorded in October 2004 with a 100-piece orchestra conducted by Williams at the Sony Pictures Studios. This recording has a crisper and cleaner sound. The opening theme of ''The Mission'' was updated on November 8, 2004, in preparation for

Brian Williams Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American retired journalist and television news anchor. He was a reporter for ''NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in 2004. ...

succeeding Tom Brokaw as the anchor on ''Nightly News'', and the closing theme of ''The Mission'' was updated on March 26, 2007, as the program began broadcasting in high-definition. Another update was made in 2011, containing only subtle changes. Variations of ''The Mission'' have also been used for '' NBC News at Sunrise'' prior to 1996, for '' The Chris Matthews Show'', and for '' Today'' from 1990 to 2013, when it was replaced with a new piece by Adam Gubman conveying a "more newsy and less cinematic" sound. The theme has also been used on some NBC affiliates for their local newscasts.

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

adopted the original theme for its news bulletins in the late 1980s. Seven has since updated its version of the theme three times independently from NBC that each have utilized a modernized "hard news" cadence compared to the original theme's strictly orchestral composition. One Seven Network affiliate, TNT (for its ''Nightly News'') in

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, also use the theme for their local news programming. Before 2015, the intro for the news of the

Radio Television of Djibouti Radio Television of Djibouti (RTD) ( ar, إذاعة وتلفزيون جيبوتي, french: Radiodiffusion télévision de Djibouti) is the national broadcaster of Djibouti. The station is based in Djibouti city and the only media outlet of the c ...

also used to feature a short part of the Seven Network's theme.

''Fugue for Changing Times''

Fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

for Changing Times'' was used for ''Before Hours'', a 15-minute early morning business news program hosted by

Bob Jamieson Robert John Jamieson is an American former television news correspondent for ABC News until January 2008. After getting his start in local news in St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis and Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, he joined NBC's national news bureau ...

, which aired between March 1987 and September 1988.

''Scherzo for Today''

''Scherzo for Today'' is a short two-minute piece composed for use as the opening theme of NBC's '' Today''. Its mood was intended to be celebratory and flashy. Like most scherzos, it is light and upbeat, and utilizes

ternary Ternary (from Latin ''ternarius'') or trinary is an adjective meaning "composed of three items". It can refer to: Mathematics and logic * Ternary numeral system, a base-3 counting system ** Balanced ternary, a positional numeral system, useful ...

or "ABA" form. The "A" theme, carried by the strings, is rather jumpy and loud, with the

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

serving as a raucous accompaniment, and the "B" theme, the theme of ''The Today Show'', is smoother and more melodic. The new music gave the program a distinctly modern and refined sound. The music was used until 1990, when it was replaced with a variation on ''The Mission''.

''The Pulse of Events''

''The Pulse of Events'' was originally intended for

midterm election Apart from general elections and by-elections, midterm election refers to a type of election where the people can elect their representatives and other subnational officeholders (e.g. governor, members of local council) in the middle of the term ...

coverage on November 4, 1986 and was later adopted by ''

'' in 1990 and

interruptions in 1993.NBC News Special Report open in 1993
/ref> It was meant to convey a worldly and serious tone. ''Slate'' characterized the piece as having "fast, complicated modulations that sound more urgent and wary than 'The Mission'' They foreground the show’s relentless, logical ethos."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mission, The Compositions by John Williams NBC News Seven News Film theme songs Television news music packages 1985 compositions