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Hi, Bernard Herrmann’s minimalist approach to thriller scores from the 50s and 60s has always fascinated me; in particular, the title music for Psycho (1960). This piece, which for its time is unusually reduced in terms of melody and harmony, is essentially constructed using kind of a modular approach from just two basic ideas (Herrmann himself spoke of “musical cells”): • On the one hand, the so-called “Hitchcock Chord” consisting of a minor triad plus a major seventh on top, hammered out five times in a row in B-flat second inversion right at the beginning of the piece and reappearing repeatedly throughout. • On the other hand, a central motif consisting of four sixteenth notes (major third ascending; minor second + minor third descending), which melodically dominates the entire “Prelude” and also recurs throughout the rest of the score in dozens of variations. Once you know what to look for, it’s actually hard to miss. In accordance with Hitchcock's deliberate choice of black-and-white visuals, Herrmann decided to limit the instrumentation to string ensemble. Woodwinds, brass, and percussion are completely absent from the score. Even though special playing techniques like pizzicato or sul ponticello are missing in a piano-solo version, the limited range of timbres on a piano follows a similar direction. While several film music songbooks by Hal Leonard contain a certain piano arrangement, this “official” version is full of errors, such as dominant seventh chords instead of a double-diminished chords etc. Therefore, I had to write my own arrangement. If anyone wants the sheet music, just let me know. I’m happy to share it. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/xejDXqAPk40?si=vwjAq0VGnLCDWsta Best regards, Dustin

CLICK HERE TO GO TO PRODUCT PAGE PSYCHO: Bernard Herrmann's Complete Music For Alfred Hitchcock's Suspense Thriller CD Includes Digital Download / Digital Booklet Dragon’s Domain Records presents PSYCHO, featuring music composed by Bernard Herrmann (CITIZEN KANE, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, VERTIGO) for the 1960 horror classic directed by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock, written by Robert Bloch and Joseph Stefano, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire and Simon Oakland. Released in 1960, PSYCHO focuses on an encounter between Marion Crane (Leigh) and Norman Bates (Perkins) and its aftermath, in which Arbogast, a private investigator (Balsam), Marion’s lover Sam (Gavin) and her sister Lila (Miles) investigate her disappearance. On the run after embezzling money from her former employer, Marion makes a fateful stop at the Bates motel, where she meets shy proprietor Norman and Marion’s fate is changed forever... Now considered one of Hitchcock’s best films and arguably his most influential work, PSYCHO was seen as a departure at the time from his previous film, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, as it was filmed in black-and-white, on a small budget, with the same crew Hitchcock used for his television series, ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS. The film was a massive success in its day, spawning three sequels, a remake, a made-for-television spin-off and a television series. Bernard Herrmann is one of the greatest composers of motion picture music in the twentieth century. He is considered the man behind some of the most original and distinctive film scores. He was a master at evoking psychological and dramatic tension in his music to suit the dramatic needs of a film. He won his only Oscar in 1947 for writing the score for THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER. Herrmann made a powerful mark in radio and in 1934 he began a 25-year career as a conductor and composer in radio, working for the CBS. In 1938, he scored the notorious infamous presentation of Orson Welles’ Halloween production of H. G. Wells’ THE WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast. He is best remembered for his collaborations with some of Hollywood’s most celebrated film directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese and Brian DePalma. Described as a perfectionist, he believed that most directors didn't have a clue about music so he would blithely ignore their instructions. His filmography includes CITIZEN KANE, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, VERTIGO, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, CAPE FEAR, FAHRENHEIT 451, OBSESSION, TAXI DRIVER and many hours of episodic television including THE TWILIGHT ZONE and HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL, among others. First released on vinyl in 1975 by Unicorn-Kanchana and later released in the early days of the compact disc format, this recording captured the first complete presentation of music from PSYCHO as performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by the composer himself in 1975. Dragon’s Domain Records is excited to bring PSYCHO back to the marketplace under license from Unicorn-Kanchana, newly remastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland and retaining the original album liner notes by Christopher Palmer. PSYCHO is a limited edition release. PSYCHO will begin shipping the week ofOctober 28th, 2025. 01. Prelude (2:08) 02. The City / Marion / Marion and Sam (4:34) 03. Temptation (3:06) 04. Flight / The Patrol Car / The Car Lot / /The Package / The Rainstorm (8:43) 05. Hotel Room / The Window / The Parlor (4:01) 06. The Madhouse (2:14) 07. The Peephole (3:10) 08. The Bathroom / The Murder / The Body (2:07) 09. The Office / The Curtain / The Water / The Car / The Swamp (6:39) 10. The Search (A) / The Shadow / Phone Booth (2:23) 11. The Porch / The Stairs / The Knife (4:33) 12. The Search (B) / First Floor / Cabin 10 / Cabin 1 (6:09) 13. The Hill / The Bedroom / The Toys / The Cellar / Discovery (5:24) 14. Finale (5:45) BONUS TRACKS 15. The Hill / The Bedroom / The Toys / The Cellar / Knife (reprise) / Discovery (film edit) (1:49) PSYCHO: A NARRATIVE FOR STRING ORCHESTRA 16. Part 1: Prelude (2:08) 17. Part 2: The Madhouse / The Murder / The Water / The Swamp ( 6:23) 18. Part 3: The Stairs / The Knife / The Cellar / Finale (6:36) Total Time: 78:37

Click Here for Audio Clips and product page: https://tinyurl.com/23xaxyxk CD Includes Digital Download / Digital Booklet Starts Shipping on October 8th THE DEVIL AND BERNARD HERRMANN includes suites from THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER, OBSESSION, and the composer’s own WELLES RAISES KANE, a suite from CITIZEN KANE, and THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, featuring the composer conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Philharmonic Orchestra in recordings from 1967 and 1975. Bernard Herrmann is one of the greatest composers of motion picture music in the twentieth century. He is considered the man behind some of the most original and distinctive film scores. He was a master at evoking psychological and dramatic tension in his music to suit the dramatic needs of a film. He won his only Oscar in 1947 for writing the score for THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER. Herrmann made a powerful mark in radio, and in 1934, he began a 25-year career as a conductor and composer in radio, working for CBS. In 1938, he scored the notorious, infamous presentation of Orson Welles’ Halloween production of H. G. Wells’ THE WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast. He is best remembered for his collaborations with some of Hollywood’s most celebrated film directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese and Brian DePalma. Described as a perfectionist, he believed that most directors didn't have a clue about music so he would blithely ignore their instructions. His filmography includes CITIZEN KANE, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, VERTIGO, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, CAPE FEAR, FAHRENHEIT 451, OBSESSION, TAXI DRIVER, and many hours of episodic television, including THE TWILIGHT ZONE and HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL, among others. These historic recordings were initially released on vinyl in the 1970s and later on compact disc in the 1990s. Citadel Records, a division of BSX Records, is proud to bring these recordings back into the marketplace, under license from Unicorn Records Limited, with the music newly remastered by James Nelson at Digital Outland and retaining the original liner notes written by Christopher Palmer, including the participation of the composer. THE DEVIL ANDDANIEL WEBSTER 01. Mr. Scratch (5:18) 02. The Ballad of Springfield Mountain (4:38) 03. The Sleigh-Ride (2:02) 04. The Miser's Waltz (5:26) 05. Finale / Swing Your Partners (2:48) WELLES RAISES KANE 06. Overture (2:36) 07. Theme and Variations (5:10) 08. Ragtime / The Saturday Night Band Concert (1:44) 09. Meditation / Antimacassar (2:42) 10. Finale / Pursuit and Happiness (2:37) OBSESSION* 11. Main Title / Valse Lente / Kidnap (6:02) 12. Newsboy / The Tape / The Ferry (4:58) 13. The Tomb / Sandra (8:06) 14. The Church / Court's Confession / Bryn Mawr (9:26) 15. New Orleans / Wedding / Court, The Morning After (4:33) 16. The Plane / Court and La Salle's Struggle / Airport (6:00) Total Time: 74:05

Dragon’s Domain Records presents THE INQUIRER: The Film Music Of Bernard Herrmann. Click here to go to the product page for. For more information and to listen to Audio Clips

WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING: ENDLESS NIGHTS Music by Bernard Herrmann Music Conducted by Fernando Velázquez Performed by the Basque National Orchestra Quartet Records is proud to present its second world premiere recording of a previously unreleased classic Bernard Herrmann score, following the release of THE BRIDE WORE BLACK in 2018. Herrmann’s score for ENDLESS NIGHT looks both forward and backward in his career. Its romantic elements recall passages from THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR and VERTIGO, while its more austere aspects anticipate the more motivic-based writing of IT’S ALIVE and SISTERS. To suggest the menace beneath the romance, Herrmann used a Moog synthesizer for its wailing and otherworldly timbres. Some of the score is based on a setting of words from William Blake’s “Auguries of Innocence”. There is also an achingly beautiful love theme, used by Herrmann as a “red herring” in this intriguing plot, and several cues that rely on color (Herrmann was, of course, a master orchestrator) and staid harmonic progressions for their chilling effect. Reconstructed from Herrmann’s original manuscript (provided by the publisher), the music is conducted by prestigious composer/conductor Fernando Velázquez, performed by the Basque National Orchestra, with original Moog synthesizer sessions played by Toni Saigi. We also had the incredibly good fortune of securing the magnificent voice of classical soprano Núria Rial for the vocals. Recorded on the OSE orchestra stage in September 2019 by Marc Blanes, with additional Moog sessions in 2020, the album was produced by Edouard Dubois and Jose M. Benitez (with executive production entirely by Quartet Records) and mastered by Chris Malone. The booklet includes extensive liner notes by associate producer Frank K. DeWald, who discusses both film and score. 1. Prelude (2:15) 2. The Opening (0:43) 3. The Balcony (1:12) 4. Gypsy’s Acre (0:49) 5. Flashback I (0:25) 6. The Pictures (1:23) 7. Ellie (1:22) 8. Encounter (1:32) 9. Warning (2:02) 10. Duo I (1:27) 11. The Cats (1:15) 12. The Newspaper (0:44) 13. Marriage (1:38) 14. Greta (Original Version) (2:17) 15. The Seasons (1:39) 16. Broken Glass / Miss T / The Ice (1:11) 17. School Play (0:39) 18. The Gift / The Ride (1:37) 19. The Garden / The Statue (1:54) 20. Duo II (1:15) 21. Endless Night (1:26) 22. Devotion / Binoculars (1:00) 23. Farewell (0:39) 24. The Yellow Pill (0:28) 25. Death (1:26) 26. The Return (1:21) 27. The Couch (0:38) 28. Flashback II (0:25) 29. The Fight / The Song (Film Version) (2:15) 30. Breakdown (0:44) 31. End Title (1:11) Bonus Tracks 32. Encounter (Alternate) (2:22) 33. Greta (Film Version) (2:19) 34. Duo II (Film Version) (0:54) 35. Endless Night (Film Version With Mandolin) (1:27) 36. The Fight / The Song (Original Version) (1:50) 37. End Title (Alternate Version With Moog) (1:08) 38. Endless Night (Vocalise) (3:26) https://quartetrecords.com/product/endless-night/

Today listening to Shore I thought by myself that the two have a lot in common. Both wrote scores for a lot of fantasy and quite abysmal movies. Both have a certain characteristic and concise simplcity in their music, and a tendency to a little boring concert works apart from the screen. But in the end it is just a gut feeling of mine. Does anybody else see that connection or similarity?

My preference is clear: Herrmann.

John Morgan's Ode to Herrmann THE AFTERMATH - Original Soundtrack from the Steve Barkett Production by John Morgan http://buysoundtrax.stores.yahoo.net/aforsofrstba.html SRP: $17.95 LISTEN TO A SOUND CLIP FROM the score for THE AFTERMATHhttp://buysound.webjedi.net/Aftermath_Audio/01%20Main%20Title-Deep%20Space.mp3 THE AFTERMATH is a limited edition release of 1000 units. Starts Shipping the week of July 13 ,2015 Dragon’s Domain Records, to be distributed through buysoundtrax.com, presents the world premiere soundtrack release of THE AFTERMATH, featuring music composed and conducted by John Morgan for the 1982 science fiction film written, produced and directed by Steve Barkett and also starring Lynne Marguilies, Larry Latham and Sid Haig. THE AFTERMATH tells the story of three astronauts returning to Earth from a deep space mission only to find a world demolished by nuclear war. Crash landing just outside of Los Angeles, the two surviving astronauts, Newman (Barkett) and Matthews, find that the city is occupied by blood thirsty mutants and, worse, ruled by a gang of mercenary bikers under the leadership of a violent thug named Cutter (Haig), who leads his gang on raids to murder the male survivors and enslave the women and children. After exploring the wreckage of the city, Newman and Matthews rescue two women and a pair of adolescent children. As the film continues, they struggle to keep their new families alive, despite the ongoing threat of Cutter’s raids until a decision must ultimately be made about how to deal with Cutter and his men. Writer-director Steve Barkett first conceived of the film in 1972 as a project he wanted to develop with his friend Stanley Livingston (then completing a twelve-year run as Chip on the long-running 1960s TV series MY THREE SONS). After several false starts that failed to come to financial fruition, and just as Barkett had decided to scrap the whole idea, financing came in through a family member and the project was a go. Barkett, who’s had small roles acting in films as far back as the early 1970s, assumed the lead role of Newman himself, with Larry Latham (later a noted storyboard artist and Disney animation director) taking on the role of the other surviving astronaut, Matthews. Noted film heavy Sid Haig took on the lead bad guy role of Cutter; Lynn Margulies (actress, artist, sister of musician Johnny Legend and comedian Andy Kaufman’s girlfriend for the last two years of his life) debuted as Sarah, Newman’s love interest, with Barkett’s son Christopher taking on the role of the youngster Chris, survivor of the holocaustic future. Well-known fan, memorabilia collector, and editor of the influential FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine Forrest J Ackerman made one of his many small but affectionate film roles as the Museum Curator. Noted Roger Corman player and famous bit-player Dick Miller voiced an important radio broadcast. Future Oscar-winning visual effects wizards Robert and Dennis Skotak did their first work in Hollywood by providing the film’s miniature effects, including the impressive models of a ruined urban L.A. wasteland and the occasional exploding head gag. When it came to establishing the kind of music he wanted for THE AFTERMATH, Barkett’s vision was clear. “I wanted a traditional orchestral score with a Bernard Herrmann flavor as well as the kind of synchronization with character that Max Steiner was known for,” he said. Barkett was referred to composer John Morgan, who had made friends with all of the effects people involved with THE AFTERMATH on earlier projects and happily put forth his name. With similar taste in music, it was a fruitful collaboration. As Barkett had suggested, Morgan succeeded in crafting an expressive fusion of Herrmann and Steiner, imparting a musical voice distilled from a confluence of both: the brooding, swelling, ominous Herrmann chords frothing with the vivid melodic touches of Steiner. Despite the production’s meager budget, Barkett was able to accommodate a reasonably large orchestra to record the score. His score is almost an anachronism for its day, reflecting a scoring tradition of an earlier era at a time when most sci-fi films were exploring new worlds of electronic music or embodying clear-cut STAR WARS facsimiles. But Morgan’s music gave THE AFTERMATH a potent aural production value that elevated it far above its low-budget roots and provided the story with a pervasive sense of dramatic import that no other film of its type had achieved at the time. John Morgan is a film composer based in Los Angeles, California. After receiving his Masters Degree in Music at San Diego State University, and studying composition with David Ward-Steinman, he stayed on at the University and taught orchestration, music theory and various film music courses. In the late 70s, Morgan moved to the Los Angeles area and secured work orchestrating for such composers as Fred Steiner, Bruce Broughton and Alex North. In 1979, Morgan composed and orchestrated his first feature film score and in the ensuing years composed music for more than 30 feature films, as well as many television, radio and cable projects including STARSHIP TROOPERS 2, TRINITY AND BEYOND, RAY HARRYHAUSEN – THE EARLY YEARS, CINERAMA ADVENTURE, DEMON IN THE BOTTLE, TINY TOON ADVENTURES and others, many in collaboration with his music partner and life long friend, William Stromberg. Morgan's love and passion for the great scores of Hollywood's golden age has led him to the arena of arranging and reconstructing many classic scores for new recordings. He has embarked on a long series of film music recordings for Marco Polo (Naxos), BMG Classics his own label with Anna Bonn and William Stromberg, TRIBUTE FILM CLASSICS. Among the scores he has reconstructed and orchestrated for new recordings are: Max Steiner's THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, KING KONG; Erich Wolfgang Korngold's CAPTAIN BLOOD, ESCAPE ME NEVER, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, THE SEA HAWK; Roy Webb's scores for the Val Lewton films, Hans Salter and Frank Skinner's THE WOLF MAN, HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN as well as scores by Hugo Friedhofer and Victor Young.Dragon’s Domain Records is excited to present the world premiere compact disc release of THE AFTERMATH, remastered and reconstructed from the composer’s own elements by James Nelson at Digital Outland with assistance from composer William Stromberg. The booklet includes exclusive liner notes written by author Randall Larson, with the participation of the film’s director and star, Steve Barkett, along with composer John Morgan and a final word from composer William T. Stromberg. THE AFTERMATH is a limited edition release of 1000 units. THE AFTERMATH will begin shipping on the week of July 13th. and can be ordered at www.buysoundtrax.com.The first 100 copies will be autographed by composer John Morgan. 01 Main Title / Deep Space 2:2002 Attack 2:3503 Caught / Massacre / Rocket 4:3104 Dangerous Sea / Ascension / Scaling the Walls 3:4205 Night Stalking / Night Attack 2:1606 Wandering / Throat Slitting 3:4307 Montage 1:1208 Storm 1:3309 The Museum / Apparition 2:4110 Child’s Voice / Who’s Chris? 1:2211 Rape Scene 2:5812 Forry’s Death 1:4813 Chris and Newman / The Rifle / The Fight / Mutants After Chris 3:0914 Mutant Attack 2:2315 Love Scene / Fireplace 4:2716 Family Feud / Target Practice 1:2017 Night Raid / Laser Fight / In Bed 4:1918 The Bitch / Oh! My God! 1:0619 Death of Sarah / Death / Burning Bodies 4:5920 Justice 0:4921 Day Raid / Transition 8:0422 Prelude to Skirvin / Skirvin Scene 5:1923 Mourning 0:4124 Newman is Hit / Newman Dies / Finale / End Cast 4:56Total Time: 71:06

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Two months ago I stumbled on a video on YouTube, now taken down, of John Williams conducting a tribute concert of the music of Bernard Herrmann and Henry Mancini. The concert was filmed by PBS on July 25, 2004. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pops/programnotes/. I would love to get a copy of this concert. I contacted PBS but they can't give me a copy due to rights issues. Can anybody help?

Just watched a fascinating and insightful documentary on Bernard Herrmann (courtesy of SAE Facebook profile): https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ipo5Lgz4GFQ A must see. Karol