Some composers only make an indelible impression when they work with certain directors or filmmakers. Try and imagine for instance what the Steven Spielberg films would be like without John Williams! Bernard Herrmann was a composer who grew to unprecedented levels of excellence in the company of Orson Welles and, later in his career, Alfred Hitchcock. Yet the films he scored for both legendary directors do not fully represent the awesome dramatic power that this wonderful composer represented.
After scoring for radio for a number of years, Herrmann composed a rich and varied score for Orson Welles' first feature CITIZEN KANE (1941). He went on to score many other films with a flair for the dramatic. Winning an Academy Award for his score for The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) early in his career, it sometimes was a long time before recognition was given him. Another few highlights of the forties were Anna and The King of Siam (which was later remade as a musical and in the seventies made into a television series) and The Ghost and Mrs Muir (which in the early seventies also was made into a television series).
In 1951 Robert Wise directed The Day The Earth Stood Still, for which Herrmann introduced an eerie sound in his hypnotic music. This was achieved by the use of the theremin, a very early sort of synthesizer. This sound, mostly described as a paranoid vibrato whine, was emulated in many other science fiction films of the fifties.
During this era Herrmann began his association with Hitchcock for The Trouble With Harry, followed by The Man Who Knew Too Much, (in which Herrmann is also seen conducting a concert in the grand finale of the film), North By Northwest, (which by many is seen as a precursor to the James Bond series), Vertigo (considered by many to be Hitchcock's finest work, evoking an equally haunting score by Herrmann) and finally Psycho, for which Herrmann composed a striking musical score performed almost entirely with just the strings.
In the 1960s, Herrmann had a falling out (of sorts) with Hitchcock (much has been written about it; no need to go into it here) and Herrmann moved to London, where he worked for Francois Truffaut and wrote a truly haunting score for Fahrenheit 451 and later he also scored The Bride Wore Black. The popularity in these days of popular music in films caused major orchestral scores to go slightly out of fashion and so Herrmann found time for other endeavors, such as, in the 1970s, Herrmann re-recording his earlier scores for release on LP. For these releases he could pay more attention to performance than to the timings as these themes had in the film.
The early 1970s, young filmmakers began to rediscover Herrmann in these last years of his career and he was invited to score films for Brian De Palma, Larry Cohen and Martin Scorsese. His final score was for Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER.
Hermann's intensity and love for the craft made him a highly respected and wanted film composer, however he was also known to have severe temper tantrums. Nevertheless his impact as a film composer has left him a legacy that is very hard to surpass.
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