Album a Day (Film Score Edition): Bernard Herrmann - Bernard Herrmann's Music From Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo"

Certainly any film composer will list Bernard Herrmann as one of the greatest composers of all and no one could even be blamed for putting him at the top of that list for providing the world with the music to Ray Harryhausen's Jason and The Argonauts, François Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451, Brian De Palma's Obsession, Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, and of course almost every Alfred Hitchcock film including my personal favorite (both for the film and the score) Vertigo. Bernard Herrmann's work is genius enough on his own but to me Herrmann's work always got pushed to its very limits by the macabre brilliance of Alfred Hitchcock. One of the most difficult elements about scoring a film like this is that there is a necessity in the story where things have to start in one style and really shift during the turning point of the film without seeming like two different scores. Herrmann's soundtrack allows for all of the emotional complexities of the film that Scottie goes through because of his condition (which is vertigo in case you had a hard time figuring that out), love, paranoia, obsession, etc. A complex film needs a complex score and Herrmann was clearly up to the challenge. What I love about this score the most is that it really captures the collaborative process of filmmaking because you have Hitchcock setting the tone with the story, which is really brought to life by James Stewart and Kim Novak and then enhanced to such a great degree Herrmann's score that shows his true understanding of what Hitchcock was going for. Of course this isn't a movie review, but rather a discussion about the soundtrack which is just such a delight to listen to even outside of the film, though the release I have only includes about half the original score. The score was first released in this 34 minute version that includes most of the major cues and was the only release available until 1995 when a version was re-recorded with Joel McNeely conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and then in 1996 another version was released but this time of the master recordings which were not kept in the best of conditions. A third release came in 1999 with James Conlon conducting the Paris Opera Orchestra for the only ever recording of the full seventy-four and half minute score. I personally like the first copy the best because I'd rather listen to the original version of the score then a recorded one like the McNeely version (which isn't complete either) or the Conlon one (which is actually very rare to get a hold of anyway) and while I haven't heard the 1996 release (though I do plan to) the fidelity issues could be a problem. The tones are beautiful in this film and I can't even do justice to the analysis of the score in relationship to the rest of the sound design of the film as whole papers have been written on the subject but there are great little nuances such as the two-tone falling motif that imitates the fog horns at either side of the Golden Gate Bridge (a centerpiece of the film's San Francisco locale). If you love scores, film, or just beautiful music then you should pick this up as its inspiring to work to, great to chill out to, and is just highly emotional without being gratuitous. Favorite Tracks: Vertigo Prelude and Rooftop, Farewell and The Tower, and Love Music