Analytical Essay on the Score of Psycho - 872 Words

Analytical Essay on the Score of Psycho The man behind the low woodwinds that opens Citizen Kane and the high pitched violins of Psycho (1960). Bernard Herrmann was one of the most original and distinctive composers ever to work in film. He started early, winning a composition prize at 13 and founding his own orchestra at 20. After writing scores for Orson Welles radio shows in the 1930s (including the notorious 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast), he was the obvious choice to score Welles film debut, Citizen Kane (1941), and subsequently Magnificent Ambersons, The (1942), though he removed his name from the latter after additional music was added without his (or Welles) consent when the film†¦show more content†¦Repeated rhythmic patterns were of course well known to the improvising pianists and organists of the silent film days - the vamp till ready technique. They had also became an idiosyncratic element of the highly original classical music of Janacek. we dont know whether Herrmann was ever familiar with Jan aceks music, but his rhytmic techniques presaged those used by minimalist compsers several decades later. Herrmanns also developed a use of harmony that was particularly suited to film. It is no accident that he was the composer for some of Alfred Hitchcocks greatest films. He made strong use of augmented chords which provided a certain unease. However, he particular used overlapping harmonies that left a scene feeling unresolved - ideal for building tension in the storytelling of a thriller. Tensions was produced by overlapping harmonies and their ability to help build a powerful climax . His orchestrations are inventive and chosen to underline the atmosphere of the film. At times, he deliberately limits his palette, as in Psycho. At other times, he calls on highly unusual forces as in (his unused music to) Marnie. The film score did not need to tie itself to the forces of the 19th century symphony orchestra. It also did not have to follow the constraints of an acoustic performance. Some instruments could be miked up and others miked down. This added a new tool forShow MoreRelatedOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pages Jà ¶nkà ¶ping International Business School, Sweden Professor Rolland Munro, Keele University, United Kingdom Jan Ole Similà ¤, Assistant Professor, Nord-Trà ¸ndelag University College, Norway Dr Karin Svedberg Nilsson, Stockholm School of Economics and Score, Sweden Dr Susanne Tietze, Bradford University, United Kingdom Professor Renà © Tissen, Nyenrode Business University, The Netherlands These reviewers always challenged us, some times praised us, sometimes criticized us, and sometimes pointed out the error