JustSheetMusic
Portrait of Walter Murphy

Composer

Walter Murphy

American composer

b. 1952

5 works in the index

Born
1952
Birthplace
New York City
Citizenship / historical state
United States
Period (estimated from birth year)
Contemporary

Biography

Walter Anthony Murphy Jr. (born December 19, 1952) is an American composer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for the instrumental "A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco adaptation of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony which topped the charts in 1976 and was featured on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in 1977. Further classical-disco fusions followed, such as "Flight '76", "Toccata and Funk in 'D' Minor" "Bolero", and "Mostly Mozart", but were not as successful.

In a career spanning over five decades, Murphy has written music for numerous films and TV shows, including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Savage Bees, Stingray, Wiseguy, The Commish, Profit, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Looney Tunes, and How Murray Saved Christmas. He has had a long-running partnership with Seth MacFarlane, composing music for his films and TV shows such as Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, Ted, Ted 2 and the Ted television series.

Biography excerpt from Wikipedia contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Formatting and reference markers have been removed; the introduction may be shortened. View contributors and article history.

Source revision used for this excerpt

Life and musical career

Occupations
composer; songwriter; singer; pianist; film score composer; record producer; jazz musician; keyboardist; musician; music arranger
Education
Manhattan School of Music; Mount Saint Michael Academy
Instruments played
piano; organ; voice; backing vocal; keyboard instrument
Genres
disco; funk; jazz; film score; big band music; swing; art music; pop music
Awards
Primetime Emmy Award
Birth name
Walter Anthony Murphy Jr.
Nickname
Uncle Louie
Languages used
English
VIAF ID
19883128
ISNI
0000000077778604
GND ID
134469569
Library of Congress ID
n94101330
MusicBrainz ID
c48af196-bab1-4505-9256-0922adac0fe2

Recorded in Wikidata. Affiliations may refer to earlier stages of the composer's career.

In this catalogue

Common listed instruments
Piano, Vocal, Guitar, Voice
Genres represented
pop
Works with composition dates
0 of 5

These details describe the indexed sheet music, including arrangements.

Catalogue

Works

Years are composition dates where known. Instruments describe editions in our catalogue and may include arrangements. A dash means the detail is not recorded.

Works and available sheet music details
WorkYear composedCatalogue / opusKey in titleListed instrumentsGenreEditions
Theme From Family Guy — —— Piano, Vocal— 4
When I Get You Alone — —— Guitar, Voice— 2
A Fifth Of Beethoven — —— —pop 1
Family Guy, Theme From — —— Piano, Vocal— 0
American Dad - Main Title Theme — —— Piano, Vocal— 0

Biographical record: Wikidata, matched on name and checked against dates held in the catalogue. The period label is an estimate from birth year. Authority record: VIAF 19883128.