"The Murder" is a cue in the cinematic score written and composed by

Bernard Herrmann Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in film scoring. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely regarde ...

for the

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

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film '' Psycho'' (1960) directed by

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 ...

. The score, its second movement in particular, is well recognized as one of the most famous scores in

film history The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art form created using film technologies that began in the late 19th century. The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. There were earlier cinematographic scre ...

. It was composed for an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

string section The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

''Psycho''s shower scene

The cue was composed for the famous "shower scene", the murder of

Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, Leigh was discovered at 18 by actress Norma Shearer, who helped he ...

's character,

Marion Crane Marion Crane (originally known as Mary Crane, also by the alias Marie Samuels) is a fictional character of Robert Bloch's 1959 thriller novel '' Psycho'' and portrayed by Janet Leigh in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film adaptation. She was later pl ...

. Hitchcock originally wanted the sequence (and all motel scenes) to play without music, but Herrmann insisted he try it with the cue he had composed. Afterward, Hitchcock agreed that it vastly intensified the scene, and he nearly doubled Herrmann's salary.

Movements

The score is divided into three main movements: ;1st Movement The first movement of the score is made up of multiple runs, trills, and short, staccato stabs played agitato. While there is no direct melody, the fast-paced runs constantly switch around between the keys of F, F#, C#, and D, with a few sections played in G. A notable feature that Herrmann implemented is the use of alternating eighth-note semitones to create a sense of approaching and imminent danger.

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

made this technique famous 15 years later in his score for

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

's '' Jaws'' (1975). The movement ends with a high Bbm9 chord that crescendoes to an abrupt

fermata A fermata (; "from ''fermare'', to stay, or stop"; also known as a hold, pause, colloquially a birdseye or cyclops eye, or as a grand pause when placed on a note or a rest) is a symbol of musical notation indicating that the note should be ...

cutoff. ;2nd Movement The second movement is the most recognizable piece of the score: directly after the first movement's fermata, a lone first violin launches directly into a series of discordant, screechy

glissando In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a wikt:glide, glide from one pitch (music), pitch to another (). It is an Italianized Musical terminology, musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In ...

s before being joined by the rest of the string section. This pattern is repeated twice, albeit the second set of glissandos is notated somewhat differently. The movements ends with another fermata. ;3rd Movement The cello and contrabass start the third movement with long, low, drawn out dotted half-notes that are answered with minute, staccato stabs from the rest of the string section. The half-notes alternate between E and F 3 three times before going down to C.

References

External links

*
''Psycho'' and Herrmann's score
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murder Compositions by Bernard Herrmann 1960 compositions Psycho (franchise) Compositions for string orchestra Film music compositions