Composer David Schwartz On Writing a Score for the Enduring Love of ‘Lucy and Desi’

David Schwartz knows funny. The nominated composer has been nominated for four Primetime Emmys, and he has written music for some of the most beloved comedies of the last twenty years, including Arrested Development, Veep, and Lady Dynamite. With Amy Poehler’s lovely and essential documentary, Lucy and Desi, Schwartz is given the opportunity to score the private lives and love of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Poehler’s film takes us back to Ball and Arnaz’s introduction to Hollywood, but Schwartz didn’t feel like he needed to use instruments of the time period to reflect the love story. Schwartz was most excited to try his hand at an authentic Cuban sound in some sections.

We all know the sound of the I Love Lucy theme song–we can see the outline of the heart forming as the drums bounce and the horns blare. Schwartz is afforded to musically enhance the story of Lucy and Desi creating Desilu, Lucy moving beyond the accusations of being a Communist, and Desi’s longing for his family and home back in Cuba.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were titans of television, but Schwartz’s score strips it down to what’s most important: a love story that evolved and surpassed any revolutionary sitcom.

Lucy and Desi is streaming now on Prime Video.