Vertigo, de Bernard Hermann

Bernard Hermann. Vertigo et la musique des films d'Alfred Hitchcock. [Paris]: Milan, 2012 (CD)

This CD provides a selection of Bernard Hermann music composed for Hitchcock films, focussing particularly on "Vertigo" (which I think must be his most beautiful and mysterious score) but giving us a taste of a few other films such as "Psycho" (the Psycho Suite), "North By Northwest" and "Marnie". Was there ever a better match between composer and film-maker, can you imagine a film like "Psycho" without the Hermann score? I'm particularly pleased that the opening music from "The Wrong Man" is included, and the "Storm Cantata" from "The Man Who Knew Too Much" - absolute gems. For those who haven't yet discovered the Hermann/Hitchcock collaboration beyond the obvious films this is a wonderful introduction. I just wish that music from "The Trouble With Harry" had been included. I recall a similar collection on vinyl which was around in the 1970s - this is very similar but with a couple of differences - remembering that old album is why I bought this CD. I'm very pleased with this collection and maybe it will encourage people to explore other Hermann scores and other Hitchcock films.

Escolta'l