Alf Clausen, ‘The Simpsons’ Composer, Fired After 27 Years

Alf Clausen, who has composed for The Simpsons for the past 27 years, has been fired from the show.

SIMPSONS COMPOSER ALF CLAUSEN FIRED

Clausen reported that he received a call from Simpsons producer Richard Sakai, who said the company wanted “a different kind of music.” He confirmed the news on Twitter and thanked his fans for their undying support.

“Thank you for all of the support…unfortunately, the news is true…” he said.

Speculation has arisen that the show was cutting costs, and decided against keeping the composer, who performed with a 35-piece orchestra every week. In 2015, Clausen shared that “I absolutely love the process, it’s one of the reasons I got into this in the first place… the elephant in the room is the budget. I’m always the slave to the budget and I have to be very careful with that to make sure that I stay with in the parameters that I’ve been given. I have to give the Simpsons folk credit that they never really say anything to me about the budget, I’m really honored that way, and that’s one of the reasons i take care of it, to make sure that I don’t overstep my bounds with them, and then they’ll start to pull me back.”

Clausen won an Emmy for his 1997 song “We Put The Spring in Springfield” in the episode “Bart After Dark.” In 1998, he won an Emmy for “You’re Checkin’ In” from “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson.” Clausen has been nominated another 18 times at the Emmys, and has won three Annie awards in addition.

Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane tweeted out that Clausen’s firing was “sad news.” “He reinvented the sound of prime-time animation. I hope The Simpsons keeps the orchestra. Big part of a great show,” he said. Reviewer Stefan Ellison said it was “shocking news,” and added,”They mention cost-cutting. Makes me wonder if those yellow Springfieldians are winding down.”