Leo Arnaud

Biography

Noël Léon Marius Arnaud (July 24, 1904 – April 26, 1991), known professionally as Leo Arnaud (), was a French American arranger, composer, and trombonist. He composed "Bugler's Dream", which is used as the theme by television networks presenting the Olympic Games in the United States.
Arnaud studied composition at conservatories in Lyon and Paris with Maurice Ravel and Vincent d'Indy. After playing as a jazz trombonist in France using the name Leo Vauchant and arranging for the Jack Hylton band in England from 1928 to 1930, he immigrated to the United States in 1931. He worked in Hollywood as an arranger for Fred Waring before joining Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as an arranger, composer, and orchestrator from 1936 to 1966.
In 1980, Arnaud left Hollywood and retired to Yadkin County, North Carolina. His wife, Faye Brooks Arnaud, was a native of the area. He is buried at Asbury United Methodist Church in Hamptonville, North Carolina.

"Bugler's Dream"

"Bugler's Dream" is very well known in the United States as theme music for the Olympic Games from its use in ABC Olympic broadcasts and NBC Olympic broadcasts of the games beginning with the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. It is considered an Olympic symbol. Arnaud's piece is very stately, beginning with a timpani cadence that is soon joined by a distinctive theme in brass.
The musical theme of "Bugler's Dream" is based on Joseph-David Buhl's "Salut aux étendards", a typical cavalry trumpet's call, composed during Napoleon's French Consulate.
Arnaud was commissioned by conductor Felix Slatkin to create a piece for his album Charge! in 1958. For this, he wrote "The Charge Suite", published by Shawnee Press, which included "Bugler's Dream". ABC began using the composition as the theme to ABC Olympic broadcasts of the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, and in future Olympics. It was also used as the title piece for the series ABC's Wide World of Sports. NBC went with an alternate theme in 1988 when it obtained the rights to the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, but brought "Bugler's Dream" back for NBC Olympic broadcasts of the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
On the Boston Pops Orchestra album Summon the Heroes, released for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, "Bugler's Dream" was combined in a medley with composer John Williams' "Olympic symbols". The medley consists of Williams's arrangement of "Bugler's Dream"—similar to Arnaud's original but with a repeat of the theme with a full orchestra—followed by Williams's composition written for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. Williams's arrangement of "Bugler's Dream / Olympic Fanfare and Theme" was used in the 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony and has continued to be used in later Olympic coverage by NBC.