The songs Linus and Lucy and Christmas Time is Here are probably the two most well-known songs composed for Peanuts specials. Jazz musician Vince Guaraldi composed Linus and Lucy for a documentary on Charles Schulz which never aired, called A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1963). Lee Mendelson, the producer of the 1963 documentary and most other Peanuts specials and films, wrote the lyrics to the song Christmas Time is Here, and Guaraldi composed the tune. Guaraldi went on to compose music for 15 Peanuts specials and films until his untimely death in 1976.

In addition to Guaraldi’s many Peanuts compositions through 1976’s It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown, the renowned Sherman Brothers wrote the original music for the full-length feature film Snoopy, Come Home in 1972. Richard and Robert Sherman’s legacy includes composing much of the celebrated music from the Disney films of the 1960s and 1970s. Ed Bogas began composing music for Peanuts animation in 1978 with What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown and contributed to much of the original Peanuts music through the 1980s. Bogas partnered with either Judy Munsen or Desiree Goyette on many of the animated Peanuts television specials and films in the early 1980s, with Munsen receiving full credit for supplying music for several of the specials through 1992’s It’s Spring Training, Charlie Brown.

The eight-part animated mini-series This is America, Charlie Brown (1988) included many well-known composers in the credits: Ed Bogas, George Winston, Wynton Marsalis, Dave Brubeck, The Winans, David Benoit, and Dave Grusin. With the release of It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown in the fall of 1992, David Benoit was again enlisted, arranging and performing the music of Vince Guaraldi in several of the television specials produced in the 1990s.

The music for Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (2011) was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh, co-founder of the band Devo. Mothersbaugh has a long history of scoring television and film productions including many of the films of noted director Wes Anderson, who cites Peanuts animator and director Bill Melendez as an influence on his films—bringing the legacy of original Peanuts compositions full circle!

A summary of Peanuts music would not be complete without mentioning that Ludwig van Beethoven’s compositions can be heard in many of the Peanuts specials, due to Schroeder’s passion for this brilliant composer and pianist. One of the most memorable instances in A Charlie Brown Christmas is when Schroeder soulfully plays Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor for solo piano—commonly known as “Für Elise.”

Sheet music for many of the compositions heard in Peanuts specials and films can be purchased at music stores, bookstores, and online retailers.