MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A SERIES
“Arrested Development”
David Schwartz
› Two previous noms
› Episode: “Flight of the Phoenix”
› Series’ signature Tahitian ukelele, jazzy themes return; rare score nod for a comedy
“The Borgias”
Trevor Morris (1)
› Two wins, two other noms
› Episode: “The Prince,” third-season finale
› Orchestra and choir set 15th-century tone
as Cesare lays siege to Forli, grows closer
to sister Lucrezia
“Downton Abbey”
John Lunn
› One win, one other nom
› Episode 6, “A Carnival”
› Warm, emotional music (strings, piano,
English horn) for Bates’ return, Tom’s decision
to remain at Downton
“House of Cards”
Jeff Beal (2)
› Three wins, eight other noms
› Pilot for Netflix contempo political drama
starring Kevin Spacey
› Strings and piano strike dark, edgy, sometimes
mysterious mood
“Last Resort”
Robert Duncan
› Two other noms
› Episode: “Captain”
› Orchestral drama with percussion samples
created by recording noises made inside
a submarine.
Charlie Mole
› First nom
› Episode 1, two-hour opener
› Lightly jazzy turn-of-the-century ambience
for brash American entrepreneur in London
MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL
“The Girl”
Philip Miller
› First nom
› HBO feature about Alfred Hitchcock’s
inappropriate relationship with actress
› Jazzy ’60s ambience, including sexy sax for
Hedren, moody strings for malevolent Hitch
“Mea Maxima Culpa:
Silence in the House of God”
Ivor Guest, Robert Logan
› First nom for each
› HBO documentary on child sex abuse by priests
› Guitar, cello and solo voice provide intimate
setting for harrowing doc
“Parade’s End”
Dirk Brosse
› First nom
› Finale of BBC-HBO World War I mini
› Piano, strings, solo trumpet strike elegiac chord for death, destruction and redemption
“Restless”
Lorne Balfe
› First nom
› Finale of Sundance Channel World War II
spy story
› Orchestral suspense for edge-of-seat,
nobody’s-safe saga set in 1941 and 1976
“Ring of Fire”
Anton Sanko
› First nom
› Lifetime biopic of country singer
› Country flavors (guitars, mandolin, dulcimer,
fiddle) mesh harmoniously with Carter &
Cash songs
“World Without End”
Mychael Danna (3)
› One previous nom
› “Medieval Life and Death,” from ReelzChannel
mini set in 14th-century England
› Period instruments, ominous choirs, Latin vocals
for early-classical style
“Christmas in Washington”
Ian Fraser (4), music director
› 11 wins, 20 other noms
› Annual TNT holiday special
› Orchestra, three choirs, plus Diana Ross,
Megan Hilty, Demi Lovato, Scotty McCreery, etc.
“The Kennedy Center Honors”
Rob Berman, Rob Mathes, music directors
› Six prior noms for Mathes, four prior for Berman
› Annual CBS celebration of nation’s top
artistic talent
› Blues, ballet, rock ’n’ roll all featured in this
year’s edition
“85th Annual Academy Awards”
William Ross, music director
› Three wins, one other nom
› ABC telecast of 85th annual Academy Awards
› Live orchestra during three-hour show
plus Adele, Streisand, Bassey, MacFarlane,
all singing live.
“Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel”
Rob Fisher, music director
› First nom
› “Live From Lincoln Center” telecast of 1945
musical
› Conducted N.Y. Philharmonic in concert staging
of R&H classic
“66th Annual Tony Awards”
Elliot Lawrence, music director
› Three wins, 14 other noms
› Annual CBS telecast of top Broadway honors
› Supervised and/or conducted excerpts from
“Once,” “Leap of Faith,” “Newsies,” “Nice Work
If You Can Get It”
MUSIC AND LYRICS
“The Neighbors”
Alan Menken (music), Glenn Slater (lyrics)
› First nom for each
› “More or Less the Kind of Thing You May or
May Not Possibly See on Broadway”
› Big, splashy, Broadway-style number sung by
Simon Templeman, Toks Olagundoye
“Smash”
Marc Shaiman (5) (music and lyrics),
Scott Wittman (lyrics)
› One win, eight other noms for Shaiman;
third nom for Wittman
› “Hang the Moon,” song in “The Parents” episode
› Bernadette Peters, as Marilyn Monroe’s
mom, sings with regret about her failures ,
as a mother
“Smash”
Andrew McMahon
› First nom
› “I Hear Your Voice in a Dream,” in “The Bells
and Whistles” episode
› Rock ballad sung by Jeremy Jordan as part
of show’s new musical “Hit List”
“30 Rock”
Jeff Richmond (music and lyrics), Tina Fey (lyrics), Tracey Wigfield (lyrics)
› Three wins, five other noms for Richmond;
seven wins, 16 other noms for Fey; one previous
nom for Wigfield
› “Rural Juror” from series finale
› Jane Krakowski sings tongue-twisting nonsense
lyrics in final Tracy Jordan show
“66th Annual Tony Awards”
Adam Schlesinger (lyrics), David Javerbaum (music)
› One win, one other nom for Schlesinger;
12 wins, six other noms for Javerbaum
› “If I Had Time” from last few minutes of
Tony show
› Neil Patrick Harris recaps winners and losers
in song while end credits roll.
MAIN TITLE THEME MUSIC
“The Americans”
Nathan W. Barr (6)
› First nom (of two this year)
› Soviet spies pose as married American couple
› Urgent celli with cimbalum colors for U.S.-Soviet
1980s imagery
“Copper”
Brian A. Keane (7)
› First nom
› Series about immigrant Irish cop in 1860s
New York
› Hard-edged rock guitar gives way to Irish flavors,
including fiddle and banjo
“Da Vinci’s Demons”
› One previous nom
› Starz series about the young Leonardo da Vinci
› Renaissance instruments play musical
palindrome, suggesting the artist’s mirror
writing
“Elementary”
Sean P. Callery (8)
› Three wins, nine other noms
› CBS series recasting Sherlock Holmes
and Watson in contempo NYC
› Classically styled theme for strings and
harpsichord for elaborate Rube Goldberg
contraption
“Hemlock Grove”
Nathan W. Barr (6)
› Second nom (of two this year)
› Supernatural mystery set in small
Pennsylvania town
› Melancholy, ominous cello-and-piano theme
set against weird, blood-red-tinted imagery
“House of Cards”
Jeff Beal (2)
› Three wins, eight other noms
› Political drama starring Kevin Spacey,
Robin Wright
› Distant trumpet over propulsive rhythm
as shadows overtake iconic Washington, D.C.,
buildings
