Dolores Claman


Dolores Claman is a Canadian composer and pianist. She is best known for composing the 1968 theme song for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Hockey Night In Canada show, known simply as "The Hockey Theme". She is also known for "A Place to Stand", the tune that accompanied the film of the same name at Montreal's Expo 67 Ontario pavilion.

Career

In the 1950s, Claman composed music for ITV while living in Britain and also wrote songs for West End musical revues. Claman and her writing partner and husband, lyricist Richard Morris, composed over 3000 commercial jingles in a 30-year period and won more than 40 awards internationally for their work. Claman's two best-known songs, "A Place to Stand" and "The Hockey Theme", were orchestrated by Jerry Toth who, along with his brother Rudy Toth and composer Richard Morris, all worked together at Quartet Productions from 1965-1970.
In 2004, she commenced legal action against the CBC, alleging the network had made unauthorized use of "The Hockey Theme" in various programs, including NHL Centre Ice, and by selling it as a cellular phone ringtone and using it outside of Canada. On 9 June 2008 it was announced that Claman had sold the rights to the song to private broadcaster CTV. The majority owner of The Sports Network, which also broadcasts hockey games, acquired the rights to the song in perpetuity after an announcement by the CBC that a deal between the public broadcaster and Claman could not be reached.
The popularity of "The Hockey Theme" resulted in many children sending letters and pictures to Claman over the years. On June 20, 2016, Claman was awarded the Cultural Impact Award for "The Hockey Theme" at the SOCAN Awards in Toronto.