The Genius of Bernard Herrmann

I gave a talk yesterday at the University of Kent on film music, using various examples (on DVD) of what I consider to be great uses of music - in main titles, dramatic scenes, action sequences and emotional scenes. Bunching them up like that, in the space of 3 hours, inevitably makes you compare the work of the different composers. And it's quite revealing to discover which ones generate the most reaction from the students.

Of course, movies like Star Wars (there to illustrate the return of the orchestra to mainstream soundtracks), Mission Impossible (which showed how Danny Elfman skilfully hits marks in a big action sequence), the Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 (wicked main title music) and Planet of the Apes (you've got to have Goldsmith's score in a film music lecture, it's the rules) are crowd-pleasers and fun to watch/listen to. But older movies, like Laurence of Arabia, Psycho and Torn Curtain are a harder sell. Most of the students in the audience hadn't seen them, or at least seen them all the way through (surely everyone has seen Psycho's shower scene?). But their reaction to the music in Psycho and Torn Curtain was very satisfying - it doesn't matter how old or young you are, it's hard not to hear the genius of Bernard Herrmann.

I used the shower scene from Psycho in my lecture for obvious reasons - it's one of the most celebrated scenes in movie history and has perhaps the most oft-imitated score. 48 years after it was made, it's still horribly shocking and Herrmann's music, all violent string stabs and screeching, has everything to do with it. The music hasn't dated at all and Herrmann's claim that he used only a string orchestra because it had a 'black and white sound' is endlessly fascinating.


















For me, though, one of the best demonstrations of Herrmann's extraordinary talent came with Torn Curtain. This is the film that split up the greatest director/composer collaboration in movies, as Hitch's demands for a more 'with-it- score were met by Herrmann with 16 horns, 12 flutes and a typically uncompromising musical language that was too much for the great director. He sacked Herrmann and got John Addison to write another score. It hurt Herrmann terribly, although the film bombed anyway. Thanks to DVD, we can now hear much of Herrmann's score as it was intended with various scenes in the movie, encouraging comparison with Addison's used score. And what a difference a genius makes. In my lecture I only played the main title sequence (hearing both Addison and Herrmann's music) but it was enough to confirm the difference between a good composer and a great one.

Addison's title music is effective and distinctive (with a whimsical tune, often on saxophone and therefore meeting Hitchcock's 'with-it' demands) and would, under normal circumstances, be fine and dandy. But then play Herrmann's main title and it's like being punched in the face. Suddenly, the screen comes alive, the utter violence of the piece is shocking (after all, this is a film that features a brutal killing scene in which Hitchcock explores how difficult it is to kill a man with your bare hands) and those 16 horns make the fillings in your teeth rattle. There are no tunes. It's an awesome display of dramatic music writing that throws you helpless into the world of the film, a score of sheer terror and anger. You can see Hitchcock's point.

Herrmann's music will live forever precisely for the reasons Hitchcock sacked him - he wasn't trendy, he wasn't 'with-it', he never compromised and he would do anything to protect his musical voice. Herrmann could be cantankerous, rude and often quite unreasonable. He rarely wrote a good tune that lasted more than a few bars (although he always had a great ostinato or motif to develop) and sometimes his music does threaten to dominate a scene rather than compliment it. But seeing the faces of those students yesterday, as Herrmann's scores blasted out of the speakers, confirmed to me that his music is for all times, and a high point in this most diverse of genres.

For a complete survey of Herrmann's life and work, including the major falling out between Herrmann and Hitchcock, I recommend this article by Steve Vertlieb on the Bernard Herrmann Society's website.