Favourite Herrmann score

Now, I know other fantastic composers worked with Hitchcock but I just
want to concentrate on the big guy, Bernard Herrmann.

What's your favourite Herrmann score for Hitchcock (and why)?

There's the seven 'normal' ones to choose from, of course, but if
you're so inclined, you might want to opt for the 'unusual' sound track
(supervised and, in a way, scored by Herrmann) for 'The Birds' .. or
his unused but not unheard one for 'Torn Curtain'.

- 'The Trouble With Harry'
- 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'
- 'The Wrong Man'
- 'Vertigo'
- 'North By Northwest'
- 'Psycho'
- 'The Birds'
- 'Marnie'
- 'Torn Curtain'

Fergal #.

"sawakatoome" <sawakatoome.TakeThisOut@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1140002784.630413.211910@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Now, I know other fantastic composers worked with Hitchcock but I just
> want to concentrate on the big guy, Bernard Herrmann.
>
> What's your favourite Herrmann score for Hitchcock (and why)?
>
> There's the seven 'normal' ones to choose from, of course, but if
> you're so inclined, you might want to opt for the 'unusual' sound track
> (supervised and, in a way, scored by Herrmann) for 'The Birds' .. or
> his unused but not unheard one for 'Torn Curtain'.
>
> - 'The Trouble With Harry'
> - 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'
> - 'The Wrong Man'
> - 'Vertigo'
> - 'North By Northwest'
> - 'Psycho'
> - 'The Birds'
> - 'Marnie'
> - 'Torn Curtain'
>


Vertigo. Definitely. Like the "best actor" idea, this one for me becomes
about when the music becomes an integral part of the story line. I read
recently that Hermann copied a 2 note motive from the fog horns on the bay
bridge and included it. Brilliance. The scene where Novak "becomes" herself,
with the spinning in the hotel room, green light, and the "love theme" all
going simultaneously puts that as one of my all time favorite movie moments.
I'm a musician (and aspiring composer) and from the first bars of the whole
tone scale (a scale people often hear as having a "dizzying", or "out of
balance" effect) the score is very much a part of this film. While on one
hand we might say that a good musical score is one that does not become
obtrusive during the film (just like good cinematography, or special
effects), Vertigo is one case where I think the music is so much a part of
the storytelling that it's being more noticeable is not a detraction.

Another good quality of this music is that is stands alone very well in a
concert setting. Usually good music that's integral to a film, ballet, or
other art form may be so intertwined that it can not stand without the
action or the plot. Vertigo seems to stand very much on its own like other
good art music scores, like Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. A+ for Hermann all
around on this one :-)

Steve