Bernard Hermann
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Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...
and conductor best known for his work in
film scoring A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest film composers.
Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book creator, comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which ...
writes that "Over four decades, he revolutionized movie scoring by abandoning the illustrative musical techniques that dominated Hollywood in the 1930s and imposing his own peculiar harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary." An
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
-winner for '' The Devil and Daniel Webster'' (1941), Herrmann worked in
radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...
, composing for
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...
's '' The Mercury Theater on the Air'', and his first film score was for Welles's film debut, ''
Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
'' (1941). He is known for his collaborations with
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
, notably '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956) (where he makes a cameo as the conductor at
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
), ''
Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
'' (1958), ''
North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...
'' (1959), '' Psycho'' (1960), '' The Birds'' (1963) (as "sound consultant") and '' Marnie'' (1964) . His other credits include ''
Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...
'' (1943), '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1946), ''
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'' is a 1947 American supernatural romantic fantasy film starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. It was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and is based on a 1945 novel written by Josephine Leslie under the pseudonym ...
'' (1947), ''
The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, F ...
'' (1951), '' Cape Fear'' (1962), ''
Fahrenheit 451 ''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 Dystopian fiction, dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. It presents a future American society where books have been outlawed and "firemen" Book burning, burn any that are found. The novel follows in the ...
'' (1966) and '' Twisted Nerve'' (1968). Herrmann scored films that were inspired by Hitchcock, like
François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...
's '' The Bride Wore Black'' (1968) and
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (; born September 11, 1940) is an Americans, American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for work in the suspense, Crime film, crime, and psychological thriller genres. ...
's ''
Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...
'' (1972) and '' Obsession'' (1976). He composed the scores for several fantasy films by
Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of both fields. In a career spanning more than 40 ...
, and composed for television, including ''
Have Gun – Will Travel ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Ri ...
'' and
Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...
's ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...
''. His last score, recorded shortly before his death, was for
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
's ''
Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...
'' (1976).


Early life and career

Herrmann was born in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
as Maximillian Herman, the son of a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
middle-class family of Russian origin. He was the son of Ida (Gorenstein) and Abram Dardik, who was from
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
and had changed the family name. Herrmann attended
DeWitt Clinton High School DeWitt Clinton High School is a public high school located since 1929 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Opened in 1897 in Lower Manhattan as an all-boys school, it maintained that status for 86 years before becoming co-ed in 1983. From i ...
, an all-boys public school at that time on 10th Avenue and 59th Street in New York City. His father encouraged music activity, taking him to the opera, and encouraging him to learn the violin. After winning a composition prize at the age of thirteen, he decided to concentrate on music, and went to
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
, where he studied with
Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who moved to the United States in 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long and ...
and Philip James. He also studied at the
Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...
, and at the age of 20, formed his own orchestra, the New Chamber Orchestra of New York. In 1934, he joined the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) as a staff conductor. Within two years, he was appointed music director of the '' Columbia Workshop'', an experimental radio drama series for which Herrmann composed or arranged music (one notable program was '' The Fall of the City''). Within nine years, he had become chief conductor to the CBS Symphony Orchestra. He was responsible for introducing more new works to US audiences than any other conductor – he was a particular champion of
Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...
' music, which was virtually unknown at that time. Herrmann's radio programs of concert music, which were broadcast under such titles as ''Invitation to Music'' and ''Exploring Music'', were planned in an unconventional way and featured rarely heard music, old and new, which was not heard in public concert halls. Examples include broadcasts devoted to music of famous amateurs or of notable royal personages, such as the music of Frederick the Great of Prussia,
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
,
Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...
,
Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...
and so on. Herrmann's many US broadcast premieres during the 1940s included Myaskovsky's 22nd Symphony,
Gian Francesco Malipiero Gian Francesco Malipiero (; 18 March 1882 – 1 August 1973) was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor. Life Early years Born in Venice into an aristocratic family, the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero, Gi ...
's 3rd Symphony, Richard Arnell's 1st Symphony, Edmund Rubbra's 3rd Symphony and Ives' 3rd Symphony. He performed the works of Hermann Goetz,
Alexander Gretchaninov Alexander Tikhonovich GretchaninovAlso commonly transliterated as ''Aleksandr/Alexandre'' ''Grechaninov/Gretchaninoff/Gretschaninow'' ( rus, Алекса́ндр Ти́хонович Гречани́нов, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɡrʲɪtɕɐˈnʲin ...
,
Niels Gade Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. Together with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, he was the leading Danish musician of his day, in the period known as ...
and
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
, and received many outstanding American musical awards and grants for his unusual programming and championship of little-known composers. In ''Dictators of the Baton'', David Ewen wrote that Herrmann was "one of the most invigorating influences in the radio music of the past decade." Also during the 1940s, Herrmann's own concert music was taken up and played by such celebrated maestri as
Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...
, Sir
John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 1943 ...
, Sir
Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...
and Eugene Ormandy. In 1934, Herrmann met a young CBS secretary and aspiring writer Lucille Fletcher. Fletcher was impressed with Herrmann's work, and the two began a five-year courtship. Marriage was delayed by the objections of Fletcher's parents, who disliked the fact that Herrmann was a Jew and were put off by what they viewed as his abrasive personality. The couple finally married on October 2, 1939. They had two daughters: Dorothy (born 1941) and Wendy (born 1945). Fletcher was to become a noted radio scriptwriter, and she and Herrmann collaborated on several projects throughout their career. He contributed the score to the famed 1941 radio presentation of Fletcher's original story '' The Hitch-Hiker'' on '' The Orson Welles Show'', and Fletcher helped to write the libretto for his operatic adaptation of ''
Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...
''. The couple divorced in 1948. The next year, he married Lucille's cousin Lucy (Kathy Lucille) Anderson. That marriage lasted until 1964.


Collaboration with Orson Welles

While at CBS, Herrmann met
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...
, and wrote or arranged scores for radio shows in which Welles appeared or wrote, such as the '' Columbia Workshop'', Welles's '' Mercury Theatre on the Air'' and '' Campbell Playhouse'' series (1938–1940), which were radio adaptations of literature and film. He conducted the live performances, including Welles's famous adaptation of
H.G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...
's ''
The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel was ...
'' broadcast on October 30, 1938, which consisted entirely of pre-existing music. Herrmann used large sections of his score for the inaugural broadcast of ''The Campbell Playhouse'', an adaptation of ''
Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...
'', for the feature film ''
Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...
'' (1943), the third film in which Welles starred. When Welles gained his
RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...
contract, Herrmann worked for him. He wrote his first film score for ''
Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
'' (1941) and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Score of a Dramatic Picture. The aria from the fictional opera ''Salammbo'', which Kane's wife Susan Alexander ( Dorothy Comingore) performs, was also composed by Herrmann. Welles wanted Herrmann to do a pastiche of real operas, writing in a telegram "Here is a chance for you to do something witty and amusing." Herrmann composed the score for Welles's ''
The Magnificent Ambersons ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' is a 1918 novel by Booth Tarkington, the second in his ''Growth'' trilogy after '' The Turmoil'' (1915) and before ''The Midlander'' (1923, retitled ''National Avenue'' in 1927). It won the Pulitzer Prize for fict ...
'' (1942); like the film, the music was heavily edited by RKO Pictures. When more than half of his score was removed from the soundtrack, Herrmann bitterly severed his ties with the film and promised legal action if his name were not removed from the credits. Herrmann was music director for Welles's CBS radio series '' The Orson Welles Show'' (1941–1942), which included the debut of his wife Lucille Fletcher's suspense classic '' The Hitch-Hiker''; '' Ceiling Unlimited'' (1942), a program conceived to glorify the aviation industry and dramatize its role in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
; and '' The Mercury Summer Theatre on the Air'' (1946). "Benny Herrmann was an intimate member of the family", Welles told filmmaker
Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for ''Fi ...
. Between the films by Welles, he wrote the score for
William Dieterle William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood primarily a ...
's ''The Devil and Daniel Webster'' (1941), for which he won his only
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
. Herrmann was among those who rebutted the charges
Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the conse ...
made in her 1971 essay " Raising Kane", in which she revived controversy over the authorship of the screenplay for ''Citizen Kane'' and denigrated Welles's contributions.


Collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock

Herrmann is closely associated with the director
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
. He wrote the scores for seven Hitchcock films, from ''
The Trouble with Harry ''The Trouble with Harry'' is a 1955 American Technicolor black comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes was based on the 1950 novel by Jack Trevor Story. It starred Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Mildred Na ...
'' (1955) to '' Marnie'' (1964), a period that included ''
Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
'', ''
North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...
'', and '' Psycho''. He was also credited as sound consultant on '' The Birds'' (1963), as there was no actual music in the film as such, only electronically made bird sounds. The film score for the remake of '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956) was composed by Herrmann, but two of the more significant pieces of music in the film – the song " Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" and the '' Storm Clouds Cantata'' played in the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
– are not by Herrmann (although he did re- orchestrate the
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian language, Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal music, vocal Musical composition, composition with an musical instrument, instrumental accompaniment, ty ...
by Australian-born composer Arthur Benjamin written for the earlier Hitchcock film of the same name). However, this film did give Herrmann the opportunity for an on-screen appearance: he is the conductor of the
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
in the Albert Hall scene. Herrmann's score for Hitchcock's ''
The Wrong Man ''The Wrong Man'' is a 1956 American docudrama film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Henry Fonda and Vera Miles. The film was drawn from the true story of an innocent man charged with a crime, as described in the book ''The True S ...
'' (1956) is in a jazz style and makes heavy use of bass; Emmanuel Balestrero (
Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor whose career spanned five decades on Broadway theatre, Broadway and in Hollywood. On screen and stage, he often portrayed characters who embodied an everyman image. Bo ...
), the wrong man of the title, is a jazz bassist. Herrmann's most recognizable music is from Hitchcock's '' Psycho''. Unusual for a thriller at the time, the score uses only the string section of the orchestra. The screeching violin heard during the famous shower scene (which Hitchcock originally suggested have no music at all) is one of the most famous moments in film score history. Hitchcock admitted at the time that ''Psycho'' heavily depended on the music for its tension and sense of pervading doom. David Thomson notes Herrmann's "sly borrowings from
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's ''Eroica''", a recording of which can be seen in the bedroom of Norman Bates ( Anthony Perkins). Herrmann's score also had a direct influence on producer
George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...
's staccato string arrangement for
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
' 1966 single "
Eleanor Rigby "Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album ''Revolver''. It was also issued on a double A-side single, paired with " Yellow Submarine". Credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, the s ...
". His
score SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...
for ''
Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
'' (1958) is seen as just as masterly. In many of the key scenes, Hitchcock let Herrmann's score take centre stage, a score whose melodies, echoing the "
Liebestod "" ( German for "love death") is the title of the final, dramatic music from the 1859 opera ' by Richard Wagner. It is the climactic end of the opera, as Isolde sings over Tristan's dead body. The music is often used in film and television pro ...
" from
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
's ''
Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...
'', dramatically convey the main character's obsessive love for the image of a woman and underscores that ''Vertigo'', like ''Tristan'', is a story of love and death. Ross writes that Herrmann's homage "is a matter of deliberation and subtlety. The main melodic contour is his own; the harmony is still his idiosyncratic construction. He is jogging the memory of those who know ''Tristan'' and the subconscious of those who don't. His veiled citations indicate in their own way the unstoppable recurrence of the past." A notable feature of the ''Vertigo'' score is the ominous two-note falling motif that opens the suite – it is a direct musical imitation of the two notes sounded by the fog horns located at either side of the
Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...
in San Francisco (as heard from the San Francisco side of the bridge). This motif has direct relevance to the film because the horns can be clearly heard sounding in just this manner at Fort Point, the spot where a key incident occurs involving the character played by
Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired actress and painter. Her contributions to cinema have been honored with two Golden Globe Awards, an Honorary Golden Bear, a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and a s ...
. However, according to Dan Auiler, author of ''Vertigo: The Making of a Hitchcock Classic'', Herrmann deeply regretted being unable to conduct his composition for ''Vertigo''. A musicians' strike in America meant that it was actually conducted in England and in Austria by Muir Mathieson. Herrmann always personally conducted his own works and given that he considered the composition among his best works, he regarded it as a missed opportunity. In a question-and-answer session at
George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as George Eastman House and the International Museum of Photography and Film, is a photography museum in Rochester, New York. Opened to the public in 1949, is the oldest museum dedicated to photography ...
in October 1973, Herrmann stated that, unlike most film composers who did not have any creative input into the style and tone of the score, he insisted on creative control as a condition of accepting a scoring assignment: Herrmann stated that Hitchcock would invite him on to the production of a film and, depending on his decision about the length of the music, either expand or contract the scene. It was Hitchcock who asked Herrmann for the "recognition scene" near the end of ''Vertigo'' (the scene in which James Stewart's character suddenly realizes Kim Novak's identity) to be played with music. In 1963, Herrmann began writing original music for the CBS-TV anthology series ''
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 a ...
'', which was in its eighth season. Hitchcock served only as advisor on the show, which he hosted, but Herrmann was again working with former Mercury Theatre actor Norman Lloyd, co-producer (with Joan Harrison) of the series. Herrmann scored 17 episodes (1963–1965), and like much of his work for CBS, the music frequently was reused for other programs. Herrmann's relationship with Hitchcock came to an abrupt end when they disagreed over the score for '' Torn Curtain''. Reportedly pressured by Universal executives, Hitchcock wanted a score that was more jazz- and pop-influenced. Hitchcock's biographer Patrick McGilligan stated that Hitchcock was worried about becoming old-fashioned and felt that Herrmann's music had to change with the times as well. Herrmann initially accepted the offer, but then decided to score the film according to his own ideas.
François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...
writes that "in 1966, In Hollywood and elsewhere, it was the practice of the film industry to favor scores that would sell as popular records—the kind of film music that could be danced to in discotheques. In this sort of game, Herrmann, a disciple of Wagner and Stravinsky, was bound to be a loser." Truffaut writes that "Herrmann's removal is a flagrant injustice, since it is a matter of record that his contributions to ''The Man Who Knew Too Much'', ''North by Northwest'', and ''Psycho'' had greatly enhanced the success of these films." Hitchcock listened to only the prelude of the score, then confronted Herrmann about the pop score. Herrmann, equally incensed, bellowed "Look, Hitch, you can't outjump your own shadow. And you don't make pop pictures. What do you want with me? I don't write pop music." Hitchcock unrelentingly insisted that Herrmann change the score, violating Herrmann's general claim to the creative control he had always maintained in their previous works together. Herrmann then said "Hitch, what's the use of my doing more with you? I had a career before you, and I will afterwards." The score was rejected and replaced with one by John Addison. According to McGilligan, Herrmann later tried to reconcile with Hitchcock, but Hitchcock refused to see him. Herrmann's widow Norma Herrmann disputed this in a conversation with Günther Kögebehn for the Bernard Herrmann Society in 2004: In 2009, Norma Herrmann began to auction her husband's personal collection on Bonhams.com, adding more interesting details to the two men's relationship. While Herrmann had brought Hitchcock a copy of his classical work after the break-up, Hitchcock had given Herrmann a copy of his 1967 interview book with François Truffaut, which he inscribed "To Benny with my fondest wishes, Hitch." "This is rather interesting because it comes a year after Hitchcock had abruptly fired Herrmann from his work scoring ''Torn Curtain'' and indicates Hitchcock may have hoped to mend fences with Herrmann and have him score his next film, ''
Topaz Topaz is a silicate mineral made of aluminium, aluminum and fluorine with the chemical formula aluminium, Alsilicon, Sioxygen, O(fluorine, F, hydroxide, OH). It is used as a gemstone in jewelry and other adornments. Common topaz in its natural ...
''," reported Wellesnet, the Orson Welles website, in April 2009: Herrmann's unused score for '' Torn Curtain'' was commercially recorded after his death, initially by
Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 orig ...
for his Film Music Collection subscription record label (reissued by Warner Bros. Records), then in a fuller realization of the original score by
Joel McNeely Joel McNeely (born March 28, 1959) is an American composer, conductor, arranger, musician, lyricist, and record producer. A protégé of composer Jerry Goldsmith, he is best known for his film and television scores. He won the Primetime Emmy Aw ...
and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and later, in a concert suite adapted by Christopher Palmer, by
Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...
and the
Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...
for
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
. Some of Herrmann's cues for ''Torn Curtain'' were post-synched to the final cut, where they showed how remarkably attuned the composer was to the action, and how, arguably, more effective his score could have been.


Later life and death

From the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, Herrmann scored a series of notable mythically themed fantasy films, including ''
Journey to the Center of the Earth ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel written by French novelist Jules Ve ...
'' and the
Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of both fields. In a career spanning more than 40 ...
Dynamation epics '' The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'', '' Jason and the Argonauts'', '' Mysterious Island'' and '' The 3 Worlds of Gulliver''. During the same period, Herrmann turned his talents to writing scores for television shows. He wrote the scores for several well-known episodes of the original '' Twilight Zone'' series, including the lesser known theme used during the series' first season, as well as the opening theme to ''
Have Gun – Will Travel ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Ri ...
''. In the mid-1960s, he composed the highly regarded music score for
François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...
's ''
Fahrenheit 451 ''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 Dystopian fiction, dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. It presents a future American society where books have been outlawed and "firemen" Book burning, burn any that are found. The novel follows in the ...
''. Scored for strings, two harps,
vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...
, xylophone and
glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...
, Herrmann's score created a driving, neurotic mood that perfectly suited the film. By 1967, Herrmann worked almost exclusively in England. In November 1967, the 56-year-old composer married 27-year-old journalist Norma Shepherd, his third wife. In August 1971, the Herrmanns made London their permanent home. Herrmann's last film scores included ''
Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...
'' and '' Obsession'' for
Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (; born September 11, 1940) is an Americans, American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for work in the suspense, Crime film, crime, and psychological thriller genres. ...
. His final film soundtrack, and the last work he completed, was his sombre score for ''
Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...
'' (1976), directed by
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
. It was De Palma who had suggested to Scorsese to use the composer. Immediately after finishing the recording of the ''Taxi Driver'' soundtrack on December 23, 1975, Herrmann viewed the rough cut of what was to be his next film assignment,
Larry Cohen Lawrence George Cohen (July 15, 1936 – March 23, 2019) was an American filmmaker. He originally emerged as the writer of blaxploitation films such as ''Black Caesar (film), Black Caesar'' and ''Hell Up in Harlem'' (both 1973), before becomin ...
's '' God Told Me To'', and dined with Cohen. He returned to his hotel, and died from an apparent heart attack in his sleep the next day. Scorsese and Cohen both dedicated their respective films in his memory. Herrmann was interred in Beth David Cemetery in
Elmont, New York Elmont is an unincorporated Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Hempstead, New York, Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York, United States, along its border with the borough ...
.


Other works

As well as his many film scores, Herrmann wrote several concert pieces, including his
Symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...
in 1941; the opera ''
Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...
''; the cantata ''Moby Dick'' (1938), dedicated to
Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...
; and ''For the Fallen'', a tribute to the soldiers who died in battle in World War II. He recorded all these compositions, and several others, for the
Unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unico ...
label during his last years in London. A work written late in his life, ''Souvenir de Voyages'', showed his ability to write non-programmatic pieces.


Compositional style and philosophy

Herrmann's music is typified by frequent use of ostinati (short repeating patterns), novel orchestration, and, in his film scores, an ability to portray character traits not altogether obvious from other elements of the film. Early in his life, Herrmann committed himself to a creed of personal integrity at the price of unpopularity: the quintessential artist. His philosophy is summarized by a favorite Tolstoy quote: "Eagles fly alone, and sparrows fly in flocks." Thus, Herrmann only composed music for films when he was allowed the artistic liberty to compose what he wished without the director getting in the way. This was the cause of the split with Hitchcock after over a decade of composing scores for the director's films. His philosophy of orchestrating film was based on the assumption that the musicians were selected and hired for the recording session – that this music was not constrained to the musical forces of the concert hall. For example, his use of nine harps in ''
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef ''Beneath the 12-Mile Reef'' is a 1953 American Technicolor adventure film directed by Robert D. Webb and starring Robert Wagner, Terry Moore and Gilbert Roland. The screenplay was by A.I. Bezzerides. The film was the third motion picture m ...
'' created an extraordinary underwater-like sonic landscape; his use of four
alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, pitched below the standard C flute and the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the piccolo. It is chara ...
s in ''Citizen Kane'' contributed to the unsettling quality of the opening, only matched by the use of 12 flutes in his unused ''Torn Curtain'' score; and his use of the serpent in '' White Witch Doctor'' is possibly the first use of that instrument in a film score. Herrmann said: "To orchestrate is like a thumbprint. I can't understand having someone else do it. It would be like someone putting color to your paintings." Herrmann subscribed to the belief that the best film music should be able to stand on its own legs when detached from the film for which it was originally written. To this end, he made several well-known recordings for Decca of arrangements of his own film music as well as music of other prominent composers.


Use of electronic instruments

Herrmann's involvement with electronic musical instruments dates back to 1951, when he used the
theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...
in ''
The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, F ...
''. Robert B. Sexton has noted that this score involved the use of treble and bass theremins (played by Dr. Samuel Hoffmann and Paul Shure), electric strings, bass, prepared piano, and guitar together with various pianos and harps, electronic organs, brass, and percussion, and that Herrmann treated the theremins as a truly orchestral section. Herrmann was a sound consultant on ''The Birds'', which made extensive use of an electronic instrument called the mixturtrautonium, performed by Oskar Sala on the film's soundtrack. Herrmann used several electronic instruments on his score of '' It's Alive'', as well as the
Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...
for the main themes in '' Endless Night'' and ''
Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...
''.


Legacy and recording

Herrmann is still a prominent figure in the world of film music today, despite his death in 1975. As such, his career has been studied extensively by biographers and documentarians. His string-only score for '' Psycho'', for example, set the standard when it became a new way to write music for thrillers (rather than big fully orchestrated pieces). In 1992, the documentary '' Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann'' was made about him. It was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Academy Honorary Award, Special Awards to ''Kukan'' and ''Target for Tonight''. The ...
. Also in 1988, Bruce Crawford produced a -hour-long
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
documentary on his life – ''Bernard Herrmann: A Celebration of His Life and Music''. In 1991, Steven C. Smith wrote a Herrmann biography titled ''A Heart at Fire's Center'', a quote from a favorite
Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry ...
poem of Herrmann. His music continues to be used in films and recordings after his death. On the 1977 album '' Ra,'' American
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
group
Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...
adapted Herrmann's "Mountain Top/Sunrise" from ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' in a rock arrangement, as the introduction to the album's opening song, "Communion With The Sun". The 1990s saw two iconic Herrmann scores adapted for remakes: celebrated composer
Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 orig ...
adapted and expanded Herrmann's music for Martin Scorsese's update of '' Cape Fear,'' expanding the score to include music from Herrmann's rejected score to '' Torn Curtain'', and similarly, though more faithful to the original material, film composer
Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his ...
and orchestrator Steve Bartek adapted Herrmann's full ''Psycho'' score for director
Gus Van Sant Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American filmmaker, photographer, painter, and musician. He has earned acclaim as an independent film, independent auteur. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures. His ...
's shot-for-shot
remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...
. "Georgie's Theme" from Herrmann's score for the 1968 film '' Twisted Nerve'' is whistled by assassin Elle Driver in the hospital corridor scene in
Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...
's '' Kill Bill: Volume 1'' (2003). 2011 saw several uses of Herrmann's music from ''Vertigo:'' the opening theme was used in the prologue to
Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...
's video for " Born This Way" and during a flashback sequence in the pilot episode of FX's ''American Horror Story'' (which featured "Georgie's Theme" in later episodes as a recurring musical motif for the character of Tate), and Ludovic Bource used the love theme in the last reels of ''The Artist (film), The Artist''. ''Vertigo'' opening sequence was also copied for the opening sequence of the 1993 miniseries, Tales of the City (1993 miniseries), ''Tales Of The City'', an adaptation of the first in a series of books by Armistead Maupin. More recently, the first and fourth episodes of Amazon Prime's 2018 streaming series ''Homecoming (TV series), Homecoming'' used cues from Herrmann's ''Vertigo'' and ''
The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, F ...
'' respectively. Herrmann's film music is well represented on disc. His friend, John Steven Lasher, has produced several albums featuring Urtext edition, Urtext recordings, including ''Battle of Neretva (film), Battle of Neretva,'' ''
Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
,'' ''The Kentuckian (1955 film), The Kentuckian,'' ''
The Magnificent Ambersons ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' is a 1918 novel by Booth Tarkington, the second in his ''Growth'' trilogy after '' The Turmoil'' (1915) and before ''The Midlander'' (1923, retitled ''National Avenue'' in 1927). It won the Pulitzer Prize for fict ...
,'' ''The Night Digger'' and ''
Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...
,'' under various labels owned by Fifth Continent Australia Pty Ltd. Herrmann was an early and enthusiastic proponent of the music of
Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...
. He met Ives in the early 1930s, performed many of his works while conductor of the CBS Symphony Orchestra, and conducted Ives' Symphony No. 2 (Ives), Second Symphony with the
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
on his first visit to London in 1956. Herrmann later made a recording of the work in 1972 and this reunion with the LSO, after more than a decade, was significant to him for several reasons – he had long hoped to record his own interpretation of the symphony, feeling that Leonard Bernstein's 1951 version was "overblown and inaccurate"; on a personal level, it also served to assuage Herrmann's long-held feeling that he had been snubbed by the orchestra after his first visit in 1956. The notoriously prickly composer had also been enraged by the recent appointment of the LSO's new chief conductor André Previn, who Herrmann detested, and deprecatingly referred to as "that jazz boy". Herrmann was also an ardent champion of the romantic-era composer Joachim Raff, whose music had fallen into near-oblivion by the 1960s. During the 1940s, Herrmann had played Raff's 3rd and 5th Symphonies in his CBS radio broadcasts. In May 1970, Herrmann conducted the world premiere recording of Raff's Fifth Symphony ''Lenore'' for the Unicorn label, which he mainly financed himself. The recording did not attract much notice in its time, despite receiving excellent reviews, but is now considered a major turning-point in the rehabilitation of Raff as a composer. In 1996, Sony Classical released ''The Film Scores,'' a recording of Herrmann's music performed by the
Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...
under the baton of
Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...
. This disc received the 1998 Cannes Classical Music Award for Best 20th-Century Orchestral Recording. It was also nominated for the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Classical. Decca Records, Decca reissued on CD a series of Phase 4 Stereo recordings with Herrmann conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra, mostly in excerpts from his various film scores, including one devoted to music from several of the Hitchcock films (including ''Psycho'', ''Marnie'' and ''Vertigo''). In the liner notes of the Hitchcock Phase 4 album, Herrmann said that the suite from ''
The Trouble with Harry ''The Trouble with Harry'' is a 1955 American Technicolor black comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes was based on the 1950 novel by Jack Trevor Story. It starred Edmund Gwenn, John Forsythe, Mildred Na ...
'' was a "portrait of Hitch". Another album was devoted to his fantasy film scores – a few of them being the films of the special effects animator Ray Harryhausen, including music from ''The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad'' and ''The Three Worlds of Gulliver.'' His other Phase 4 Stereo LPs of the 1970s included ''Music from the Great Film Classics'' (suites and excerpts from ''Jane Eyre'', ''The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952 film), The Snows of Kilimanjaro'', ''Citizen Kane'' and ''The Devil and Daniel Webster''); and "The Fantasy World of Bernard Herrmann" (''Journey to the Center of the Earth'', ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'', and ''Fahrenheit 451''.) Charles Gerhardt (conductor), Charles Gerhardt conducted a 1974 RCA recording titled ''The Classic Film Scores of Bernard Herrmann'' with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. It featured suites from ''Citizen Kane'' (with Kiri Te Kanawa singing Salammbo's Aria) and '' White Witch Doctor'', along with music from ''On Dangerous Ground'', ''
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef ''Beneath the 12-Mile Reef'' is a 1953 American Technicolor adventure film directed by Robert D. Webb and starring Robert Wagner, Terry Moore and Gilbert Roland. The screenplay was by A.I. Bezzerides. The film was the third motion picture m ...
'', and the ''Hangover Square'' piano concerto. During his last years in England, between 1966 and 1975, Herrmann made several LPs of other composers' music for assorted record labels. These included Phase 4 Stereo recordings of Gustav Holst's ''The Planets'' and Charles Ives's 2nd Symphony, as well as an album titled "The Impressionists" (music by Satie, Debussy, Ravel, Fauré and Honegger) and another titled "The Four Faces of Jazz" (works by Weill, Gershwin, Stravinsky and Milhaud). As well as recording his own film music in Phase 4 Stereo, he made LPs of movie scores by others, such as ''Great Shakespearean Films'' (music by Shostakovich for ''Hamlet'', Walton for ''Richard III'' and Rózsa for ''Julius Caesar''), and ''Great British Film Music'' (movie scores by Lambert, Bax, Benjamin, Walton, Vaughan Williams, and Bliss). For Unicorn Records, he recorded several of his own concert-hall works, including the cantata ''Moby Dick (cantata), Moby Dick'', his opera ''
Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...
'', his symphony, and the suites ''Welles Raises Kane'' and '' The Devil and Daniel Webster''. Pristine Audio released two CDs of Herrmann's radio broadcasts. One is devoted to a CBS program from 1945 that features music by Handel, Vaughan Williams and Elgar; the other features works by Charles Ives, Robert Russell Bennett and Herrmann.


Influences and legacy

The works of Herrmann are widely studied, imitated and performed to this very day. His work has left a profound influence on composers of film music that followed him, the most notable being John Williams,
Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 orig ...
, Jerry Goldsmith, Howard Shore, Lalo Schifrin, James Horner, Carter Burwell and others. Stephen Sondheim found Herrmann to be a primary influence after seeing the film ''Hangover Square''. Popular film composer
Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his ...
counts Herrmann as his biggest influence, and has said hearing Herrmann's score to ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' when he was a child was the first time he realized the powerful contribution a composer makes to the movies. Pasticcio, Pastiche of Herrmann's music can be heard in Elfman's score for ''Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure,'' specifically in the cues "Stolen Bike" and "Clown Dream", which reference Herrmann's "The Murder" from ''Psycho'' and "The Duel With the Skeleton" from ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' respectively. The prelude for Elfman's main ''Batman (1989 film), Batman'' theme references Herrmann's "Mountain Top / Sunrise" from ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'', and the Joker (character), Joker character's "fate motif" heard throughout the score is inspired by Herrmann's ''Vertigo.'' More integral homage can be heard in Elfman's later scores for ''Mars Attacks!'' and ''Hitchcock (film), Hitchcock,'' the latter based on Hitchcock's creation of ''Psycho,'' as well as the "Blue Strings" movement of Elfman's first concert work ''Serenada Schizophrana''. In addition to Elfman, fellow film composers Richard Band, Graeme Revell, Christopher Young, Alexandre Desplat and Brian Tyler consider Herrmann to be a major inspiration. In 1985, Richard Band's opening theme to ''Re-Animator'' borrows heavily from Herrmann's opening score to ''Psycho''. In 1990, Graeme Revell had adapted Herrmann's music from ''Psycho'' for its television sequel-prequel ''Psycho IV: The Beginning''. Revell's early orchestral music during the early nineties, such as ''Child's Play 2'' (which its music score being reminiscent of Herrmann's scores to the 1973 film ''
Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...
'', due to the synthesizers incorporated in the chilling parts of the orchestral score) as well as the 1963 ''The Twilight Zone'' episode "Living Doll (The Twilight Zone), Living Doll" (which inspired the ''Child's Play'' franchise), were very similar to Herrmann's work. Also, Revell's score for the video game ''Call of Duty 2'' was reminiscent of Herrmann's rare WWII music scores such as ''The Naked and the Dead (film), The Naked and the Dead'' and ''Battle of Neretva (film), Battle of Neretva''. Young, who was a jazz drummer at first, listened to Herrmann's works which convinced him to be a film composer. Tyler's score for Bill Paxton's film ''Frailty (2001 film), Frailty'' was influenced by Herrmann's film music. Sir
George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...
, best known for producing and often adding orchestration to
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
music, cites Herrmann as an influence in his own work, particularly in Martin's scoring of the Beatles' song "
Eleanor Rigby "Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album ''Revolver''. It was also issued on a double A-side single, paired with " Yellow Submarine". Credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, the s ...
". Martin later expanded on this as an extended suite for McCartney's 1984 film ''Give My Regards to Broad Street (film), Give My Regards to Broad Street'', which features a very recognizable homage to Herrmann's score for ''Psycho''. Avant-garde composer/saxophonist/producer John Zorn, in the biographical film ''A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky: 12 Stories About John Zorn, A Bookshelf on Top of the Sky'', cited Bernard Herrmann as one of his favorite composers and a major influence. In addition to adapting and expanding the original score from '' Cape Fear'' for the
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
remake,
Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 orig ...
recorded Herrmann's score for ''
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'' is a 1947 American supernatural romantic fantasy film starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. It was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and is based on a 1945 novel written by Josephine Leslie under the pseudonym ...
'', released in 1975 on the Varèse Sarabande label and later reissued on CD in the 1990s. David Thomson calls him the greatest film composer, writing: "Herrmann knew how lovely the dark should be, and he was at his best in rites of dismay, dark dreams, introspection, and the gloomy romance of loneliness. No one else would have dared or known to make the score for ''Taxi Driver'' such a lament for impossible love... Yet the score for ''Taxi Driver'' is universally cinematic: it speaks to sitting in the dark, full of dread and desire, watching."


Accolades


Academy Awards

These awards and nominations are recorded by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences: * 14th Academy Awards, 1941: Winner, Academy Award for Best Original Score, Music Score of a Dramatic Picture, '' The Devil and Daniel Webster'' (later renamed ''All That Money Can Buy'') * 1941: Nominee, Music Score of a Dramatic Motion Picture, ''
Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
'' * 19th Academy Awards, 1946: Nominee, Music Score of a Dramatic Picture, '' Anna and the King of Siam'' * 49th Academy Awards, 1976: Nominee, Original Score, '' Obsession'' * 1976: Nominee, Original Score, ''
Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...
''


American Film Institute

In 2005 the American Film Institute respectively ranked Herrmann's scores for '' Psycho'' and ''
Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
'' #4 and #12 on AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores, its list of the 25 greatest film scores. His scores for the following films were also nominated for the list: * ''
Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
'' (1941) * '' The Devil and Daniel Webster'' (1941) * ''
Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...
'' (1944) * ''
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'' is a 1947 American supernatural romantic fantasy film starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. It was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and is based on a 1945 novel written by Josephine Leslie under the pseudonym ...
'' (1947) * ''
The Day the Earth Stood Still ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' is a 1951 American science fiction film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Julian Blaustein and directed by Robert Wise. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray, F ...
'' (1951) * ''
North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, and James Mason. The original screenplay written by Ernest Lehman was intended to be the basis for ...
'' (1959) * ''
Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...
'' (1976)


British Academy Film Awards

* 1976: Winner, British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film Award, BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, Best Film Music, ''
Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and ...
''


In popular culture

* Featured (music and as a character) in"The Lovesong of Alfred J. Hitchcock" by David Rudkin (BBC Radio, 1993

* "Marnie", adapted as a song from the theme for the film ''Marnie'', Michael Poss on his 2000 album ''Silver Screen Serenades'' * Part of Herrmann's score for ''The Trouble with Harry'' was used in a 2010 U.S. television commercial for the Volkswagen CC. * Music from the ''Vertigo'' soundtrack was used in BBC Four's ''Spitfire Women'' documentary, aired in the UK in September 2010. * A 2011 TV commercial titled "Snowpocalypse" for Dodge all-wheel drive vehicles uses Herrmann's main title theme for ''Cape Fear.'' * "Gimme Some More" by Busta Rhymes is based on a sample from Herrmann's score from ''Psycho''. * The prologue to
Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...
's 2011 video for the song '' Born This Way'' features Herrmann's ''Vertigo'' prelude. * The 2011 FX series ''American Horror Story'' used cues from '' Twisted Nerve'', ''Psycho'', and ''Vertigo'' for episode scores. * The 2011 film ''The Artist (film), The Artist'' used a soundtrack recording of the love theme from ''Vertigo''. Film actress
Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired actress and painter. Her contributions to cinema have been honored with two Golden Globe Awards, an Honorary Golden Bear, a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and a s ...
later voiced her concern about the use of the music, saying that her work "had been violated by ''The Artist''". * Paul Schackman portrayed Herrmann in the 2012 biopic ''Hitchcock (film), Hitchcock''. * "The Whistle Song" from ''Twisted Nerve'' was used as an opening theme for the Quentin Tarantino film '' Kill Bill: Volume 1''. * Herrmann's scores from many Hitchcock films are prominently featured in the New York City immersive theatrical production ''Sleep No More (2011 play), Sleep No More''; particular standouts include the prelude from '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' as audience members wind through the dark portal-like maze at the start of the experience, leading them back in time to the 1930s; moments from ''Psycho'' being used to underscore the ''Macbeth'' elements of the story; and the characters' hour-long loops restarting to the opening suite from ''Vertigo''. * ''Benny & Hitch'' – "a brand new radio drama – with live orchestral music – about the extraordinary and explosive relationship between director
Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
and composer Bernard Herrmann", written by Andrew McCaldon. It was performed/recorded live on October 16, 2022, at the Alexandra Palace theatre in London with BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Ben Palmer. Acting as Hitchcock and Herrmann respectively, Toby Jones (who also portrayed Hitchcock in the BBC/HBO co-production ''The Girl (2012 TV film), The Girl'' (2012)) and Tim McInnerny. Also featuring Joanna Monro as Alma Hitchcock, Tara Ward as Lucy Anderson (and Tippi Hedren) and Jonathan Forbes as Lew Wasserman (and briefly as Paul Newman). Broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on December 25, 2022.


Film scores


Television scores

Herrmann's work for television includes scores for such westerns as ''Cimarron Strip'', ''Gunsmoke'', ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', ''
Have Gun – Will Travel ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Ri ...
'', as well as the 1968 suspense TV movie ''Companions in Nightmare''. For ''The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series), The Twilight Zone'': * Opening and closing themes (used only during the 1959–1960 season) * Where Is Everybody? (first aired October 2, 1959) * Walking Distance (first aired October 30, 1959) * The Lonely (first aired November 13, 1959) * Eye of the Beholder (The Twilight Zone, 1959), Eye of the Beholder (first aired November 11, 1960) * Little Girl Lost (The Twilight Zone), Little Girl Lost (first aired March 16, 1962) * Living Doll (The Twilight Zone), Living Doll (first aired November 1, 1963) For the ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Alfred Hitchcock Hour'': * A Home Away from Home (first aired September 27, 1963) * Terror at Northfield (first aired October 11, 1963 * You'll Be the Death of Me (first aired October 18, 1963) * Nothing Ever Happens in Linvale (first aired November 8, 1963) * The Jar (first aired February 14, 1964) * Behind the Locked Door (first aired March 27, 1964 * Body in the Barn (first aired July 3, 1964) * Change of Address (first aired October 12, 1964) * Water's Edge (first aired October 19, 1964) * The Life Work of Juan Diaz (first aired October 26, 1964) * The McGregor Affair (first aired November 23, 1964) * Misadventure (first aired December 7, 1964) * Consider Her Ways (first aired December 28, 1964) * Where the Woodbine Twineth (first aired January 11, 1965) * An Unlocked Window (first aired February 15, 1965) * Wally the Beard (first aired March 1, 1965) * Death Scene (first aired March 8, 1965)


Radio scores


Melodrams

These works are for narrator and full orchestra, intended to be broadcast over the radio (since a human voice would not be able to be heard over the full volume of an orchestra). In a 1938 broadcast of the '' Columbia Workshop'', Herrmann distinguished "melodrama" from "melodram" and explained that these works are not part of the former, but the latter. The 1935 works were composed before June 1935. * ''La Belle Dame sans merci'' (September 1934) * ''The City of Brass'' (December 1934) * ''Annabel Lee'' (1934–1935) * ''Poem Cycle'' (1935): ** "The Willow Leaf" ** "Weep No More, Sad Fountains" ** "Something Tells" * ''A Shropshire Lad'' (1935) * ''Cynara'' (June 1935)


Incidental music

''See also '' Columbia Workshop'' for programs in which Herrmann participated but did not write original music.'' * ''Palmolive Beauty Box'' (c. 1935) (2 existing cues) * ''Dauber'' (October 1936) * ''Rhythm of the Jute Mill'' (December 1936) * ''The Gods of the Mountain'' (1936) * ''The Happy Prince'' (December 1941) * ''A Christmas Carol (1954 TV musical), A Christmas Carol'' (1954, a CBS-TV special, after Dickens) * ''A Child Is Born'' (1955, a TV special hosted by Ronald Reagan with singers Nadine Conner and Theodor Uppman) * ''Brave New World'' (1956)


Stage works

* ''
Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...
'': Opera (1951) * ''The King of Schnorrers'' (1968) Musical comedy


Concert works

* ''The Forest'', tone poem for large orchestra (1929) * ''November Dusk'', tone poem for large orchestra (1929) * ''Tempest and Storm: Furies Shrieking!'', for piano (1929) * ''The Dancing Faun'' and ''The Bells'', two songs for medium voice and small Chamber orchestra (1929) * ''Requiescat'', violin and piano (1929) * ''Twilight'', violin and piano (1929) * ''March Militaire'' (1932), ballet music for ''Americana Revue'' (1932) * Aria for Flute and Harp (1932) * ''Variations on "Deep River" and "Water Boy"'' (1933) * ''Prelude to Anathema'', for fifteen instruments (1933) * ''Silent Noon'', for fourteen instruments (1933) * ''The Body Beautiful'' (1935), music from the Broadway play * Nocturne and Scherzo (1935) * Sinfonietta for Strings (1935) * ''Currier and Ives'', suite (1935) * Violin Concerto, unfinished (1937) * ''Moby Dick (cantata), Moby Dick'', cantata (1937) * ''Johnny Appleseed'', unfinished cantata (1940) * Symphony No. 1 (Herrmann), Symphony No. 1 (1941) * ''The Fantasticks'' (1942) * ''The Devil and Daniel Webster'', suite (1942) * ''For the Fallen'' (1943) * ''Welles Raises Kane'' (1943) * ''Echoes'', string quartet (1965) * ''Souvenirs de Voyage'' (1967) * ''Holst's The Planets'' (1970)


See also

* ''High Anxiety'', a comedy spoof that parodies many Hitchcock devices. including Herrmann's music * ''Hitchcock & Herrmann'', a stage play about the relationship between Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock


References


Notes


Citations


Sources

* * * * *


Further reading

* * * * Radigales, Jaume: 'Wagner's Heritage in Cinema: The Bernard Herrmann Case' In:


External links


Bernard Herrmann Society
*
The Bernard Herrmann Estate
*
Obituary
in ''Gramophone (magazine), Gramophone'' magazine *
Bernard Herrmann
at Soundtrackguide.net *
The Bastard Child of Puccini
in ''Film Score Monthly''
Bernard Herrmann: The Early Years
in ''Soundtrack'' magazine
Bernard Herrmann papers
at University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
Bernard Herrmann: A Celebration of his Life and Music
1988 radio documentary {{DEFAULTSORT:Herrmann, Bernard Bernard Herrmann, 1911 births 1975 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American classical composers American film score composers American male film score composers American male opera composers American opera composers American people of Russian-Jewish descent Best Original Music BAFTA Award winners Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Burials at Beth David Cemetery CBS people Classical musicians from New York (state) Composers from New York City DeWitt Clinton High School alumni Jewish American classical composers Jewish American film score composers Juilliard School alumni New York University alumni American string quartet composers Varèse Sarabande Records artists American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent