Danny Elfman's résumé includes Oingo Boingo, "Batman" and "Serenada Schizophrana."

Courtesy of Jimmy Lenner Jr.

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The title of Danny Elfman's first classical work, "Serenada Schizophrana," could hardly have been more appropriate.

Elfman is, of course, one of Hollywood's most-sought-after composers. After the success of his manic and whimsical score for "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" (1985), his grand and dramatic score for "Batman" (1989) and his delicate and sweet music for "Edward Scissorhands" (1990), Elfman has gone from outsider expatriate from the rock world to one of the most imitated film composers working today.

Yet, while creating his six-movement debut symphony, Elfman could not understand why the movements seemed so different from each other.

"It became evident to me that it was the result of the two battling composers who live inside my head," says Elfman. "Each movement is almost a reaction to the one before it. And these two composers — one wants to be taken seriously, and one wants to be taken anything BUT seriously. And each was, like, battling for attention."

The piece was premiered at Carnegie Hall on Feb. 23, 2005, to excellent reviews and was released on CD (Sony Classical) earlier this year.

It's been a long, surprising journey for a man who was first spotted by national audiences as he glared crazily from videos on MTV in the early 1980s with his band Oingo Boingo.

However, Elfman's musical journey actually began with an appreciation for film scores. "Film has been my first love my whole life," the 53-year-old says.

Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1950s, Elfman was always in movie theaters. It was Bernard Herrmann's eerie theremin-based soundtrack to "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) that first made him notice film music.

"At 13, 14, I noticed my favorite films all had the same composer," says Elfman. "And when I saw two names together, (stop-action-animation master Ray) Harryhausen and Herrmann, (I knew) that it was going to be my favorite film."

With Oingo Boingo, Elfman contributed songs to soundtracks. However, when director Tim Burton asked him to score "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," Elfman jumped at the chance. The movie was the first major-studio, full-length feature film for both director and composer.

"I realized that if you put images in front of me, I will hear music, and I developed the discipline to write it all down," Elfman says.

For a decade, Elfman split his time between composing for film and working with Oingo Boingo. Burton, who became one of the most bankable directors in town, relied on Elfman's music almost exclusively.

Elfman says he isn't necessarily planning another symphony, but he does hope to return to the classical realm in the near future — "maybe some string quartets or maybe a ballet."