“The scores make the films,” says Northey. Northey will be responsible for making sure the MSO keeps time with the film clips. Not an easy task, as you can imagine. “That’s one of the hardest things,” Northey says. “There’s so much synchronisation involved. It’s very difficult to cut to video and it’s so obvious if you get it wrong. I watch the screen very carefully while I’m conducting.”
Scoring movies is actually an incredibly difficult thing for a composer to do, says Northey. “You have to make sure the music builds at the right time, subsides at the right time. It’s a real art form in itself. For some people in Hollywood, it’s all they do, all day long. Herrmann is credited with saying that ‘People listen to music in a movie with one ear.’ You subconsciously process information from the music. Music manipulates the feelings of the audience, gives them an insight into what might be coming up. Think of the great film scores then imagine replacing them with something else – it would be a completely different experience. Music can reveal things about a character’s psychology; it’s an extra language in a film. Herrmann’s music is unique in that respect. You can learn things about the character through the music, underneath what’s happening on the screen with action or dialogue.”
There’s no mistaking the seductive saxophone theme from Taxi Driver, Psycho’s distinctive musical screams, or the twirling insanity of the Vertigo score (the inspiration for Lady Gaga’s Born this Way, apparently). The impact of Herrmann’s music on the cinematic history is immeasurable.
“I’ve come to realise how incredible he was,” Northey continues. “His output was huge, he scored about 50 movies, and he also composed for TV shows, wrote for opera and composed symphonic music. It wasn’t all film scores. His music is so individual; he created new styles of music for film. The shower scene in Psycho – Hitchcock originally didn’t want any music in that scene and that became the most famous music Herrmann ever wrote. It’s downright scary. It’s incredible that he can make moments so powerful, so terrifying. He was the first to use electronic music in film and the first composer to use a theremin, to create that weird spooky sound in Psycho which is now the go-to sound for sci-fi films. He used only strings to describe action in that score, he pioneered that sound of slow shrieks.
“These days the music for film can so often sound generic – certain sounds for the car chase/romantic moment/heroic moment. Herrmann stands out as an original composer. His film music influenced everything that came after him. You can’t talk about late 20th century film without referring to him. He was also unique in that he did all his own orchestration, he didn’t let anyone else touch his music, which is unusual now as most composers have such a small amount of time in which to score a film that they write the theme and farm it to someone else to do the arrangements and orchestration. Herrmann said that would be like doing a painting and getting someone else to colour it.”
Northey compares Herrmann to great classical composers such as Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev (who wrote the ballet Romeo and Juliet). “Herrmann’s harmonies are angular, his compositions have unexpected intervals, there’s something unresolved that leaves you uneasy when you listen to it, it leaves you hanging. A perfect marriage, Herrmann and Hitchcock, they were made for each other.”
Herrmann’s music is also singular in its use of instruments. “He used some strange, interesting and wonderful percussion instruments and crazy, very rare combinations of instruments. For example, in Vertigo there is the sound of 12 harps. In a studio anything goes but you can’t always recreate that with a live orchestra. That score also calls for six flutes. We have four, including two alto flutes.”
You don’t need to be familiar with Hitchcock’s films to enjoy the concert. “Herrmann’s music is very strong in its own right. It’s simply really first-rate music. There are many standalone moments of story without visuals. Great pieces of music do tell a story and these scores stand the test of time. This isn’t easy music; it doesn’t play itself. It’s a challenge for the listener and the players. And for those who know the scores, you’ll never hear it better than this. The recording on film, on video or DVD doesn’t offer quality. The live concert is a 3D experience, the music surrounds you. Hitchcock & Herrmann is a unique chance to hear a high quality version of the music in a live performance. We are putting the spotlight on one of the twentieth century’s greatest composers.”
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
