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Closing Theme |
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Closing Theme |
No one question has been asked more at the SNL Band Fan Site than "What is the name of the Closing Theme" or "What are the changes to the Closing Theme" or "Has the Closing Theme ever been recorded?"
Here are the long awaited answers.
The theme is called "Closing Theme (A Waltz In A)". Written by then-musical director Howard Shore, the closing theme has been used for most of the show's history with no major changes. The major exception is the 1980-1981 season in which a different closing theme was used. Every so often the show will have a different closing and not use this theme.
The piano cadenza (usually done by Leon Pendarvis) is played from the beginning of the last commercial break during the last 2:00 local station break. If your local station doesn't put commercials here for some reason, you get to hear the whole cadenza. (This happened once in New York. I think it was a George Wendt hosted show in the early 90's and Cheryl Hardwick was doing the cadenza that night.)
The changes (given in concert key, tenor sax players transpose up a full step - if the chord given is A, play B), should you want to make like Marini or Pickett, are (in 12/8 time):
(segno) A / / / | E7 / / / | D / / / |(coda) A / E7 / |
A / / / | C# / / / | F#m / A7 / | D / D (E bass) / |
A / C# / | D / Eb dim B7 | A / / / | D / / / | A / A7 / |
Chorus (double time)
(repeat sign) D / / / | Eb dim / B7 / | (first ending) A / Bm7 / | D / E7 | (repeat back)
(second ending) D / D (E bass) / | E A (E bass) E7 / | (dal segno al coda)
(coda) A / E7 / | A (fine)
For a picture of the SNL closing theme monograph in Howard Shore's own hand, click here.(From the SNL book published in the 70's.)
Although the closing theme has never been recorded, Carole King (who showed up as a guest in the band area one evening) worked the basic framework of the chords into a song on one of Mariah Carey's albums, "If It's Over". Carey recorded the song with the SNL Band horn section.
