Breakfast at Tiffany's

Henry Mancini

album cover

For a time in the 1960s, Henry Mancini (1924–1994) was the grand master of the iconic theme song. His pulse-quickening motif for Peter Gunn, the early television crime show, inspired a wave of copycats, and his slinky music for The Pink Panther provided the film series with an instantly familiar musical signature—hear two measures and you know who's about to enter the picture.

Mancini's most decorated work, though, is the music he wrote for the 1961 adaptation of Truman Capote's novel Breakfast at Tiffany's, which starred Audrey Hepburn as the young New York socialite Holly Golightly. Almost overnight, its title waltz "Moon River," with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, became a standard, reinterpreted by countless singers and musicians; there are now over a thousand recordings of it. The score brought Mancini two Oscars and five Grammy Awards.

"Moon River" is just plain beautiful, even when reimagined, somewhat improbably, as a big-band cha-cha. (Both the original and the Latin versions are included on this suite of selections from the score, which was recorded after the film's release and remains the best representation of its music.) Just as impressive, though, are the less-celebrated tunes Mancini wrote for the film. From his first professional opportunities, the composer displayed a knack for sweet, enduring melodies. Breakfast offers a staggering array of those, in styles ranging from lounge bossa nova ("Sally's Tomato") to cha-cha ("Latin Golightly") to brisk and showy big-band jazz ("The Big Blow Out"). Don't be surprised if, after hearing these tunes a few times, you find yourself humming them. That's the "Mancini magic" at work.

Genre: Musicals
Released: 1962, RCA (Reissued 1986)
Key Tracks: "Moon River," "Sally's Tomato," "The Big Blow Out," "Hub Caps and Tail Lights"
Catalog Choice: The Pink Panther, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Next Stop: Quincy Jones: The Pawnbroker, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
After That: Burt Bacharach: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack