In the run-up to attending a live playing to picture of Psycho in a few weeks, and to continue celebrating 100 years since the birth of Bernard Herrmann, here’s another selection of ten tracks:
01 – “Excerpt” – Cimarron Strip: Knife In The Darkness
A short 35-second snippet from the suite that can be found on the Film Music Society’s Music From CBS Westerns CD, this is pure Herrmann: a short, repeating descending motif that’s thrown around the various sections of the orchestra. And that’s it!
02 – “Nefer’s Farewell” – The Egyptian
Herrmann’s contribution to this collaboration with Alfred Newman gives the score such poignant music, full of sadness. I may have mentioned before that I much prefer Herrmann’s more psychological aspect to the score to Newman’s parts. The meandering flute line towards the end is so hypnotic.
03 – “Tranquil Landscape” – Western Suite
An example of Herrmann’s library music that is featured on Prometheus’ The CBS Years: Volume 1: The Westerns. Yes, Herrmann suggests tranquility but it’s not a particularly happy landscape. It’s a landscape that is desolate from the low register instruments he used. Read the rest of this entry »
