2 languages
Bernard Herrmann
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Bernard Herrmann was born in 1911 in New York and first worked for radio, including with Orson Welles. With Welles he made his film debut in Citizen Kane (1941). Herrmann did not like long melodies. He built his music from short motifs, which he repeated and shifted. For each film he chose an unusual instrumentation: two theremins in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), only strings in Psycho (1960). With Alfred Hitchcock he worked on, among others, Vertigo (1958) and Psycho. The screeching strings of the shower scene are world-famous. His last score, for Taxi Driver (1976), with a sultry alto saxophone, he completed shortly before his death.
Listening
Listening tip. Notice how a short motif of two or three notes is repeated and shifted again and again, instead of growing into a melody.
Prelude and Rooftop · Bernard Herrmann, 1958
Prelude · Bernard Herrmann, 1960
Main Title · Bernard Herrmann, 1976- Prelude / Outer Space / Radar · Bernard Herrmann, 1951
Discography
Studio albums
- 1945On a Note of Triumph
- 1958Vertigo (soundtrack)
- 1959The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (soundtrack)
- 1969Les Bicyclettes de Belsize / Twisted Nerve (soundtrack)
- 1970Symphony no. 5 in E “Lenore”
- 1970The Planets
- 1971The Impressionists
- 1974The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann
- 1974The Film Music Of Bernard Herrmann: "The Twisted Nerve", "The Bride Wore Black", "Hangover Square"
- 1975Citizen Kane (soundtrack)
- 1975Psycho (soundtrack)
- 1975Sisters (soundtrack)
- 1976Taxi Driver (soundtrack)
- 1976Violin Concerto In A Major (In The Popular Style) / Song Sonata For Violin And Piano / Hexapoda (Five Studies In Jitteroptera)
- 1977Torn Curtain
- 1980North by Northwest (soundtrack)
- 1983Bernard Herrmann's Outer Space Suite / The Moat Farm Murders / The Hitchiker (soundtrack)
- 1983Outer Space Suite (soundtrack)
- 1984Have Gun Will Travel (soundtrack)
- 1985The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (soundtrack)
- 1987Battle of Neretva (soundtrack)
- 1989Obsession (soundtrack)
- 1990It's Alive 2 (soundtrack)
- 1990The Egyptian (soundtrack)
- 1990The Magnificent Ambersons: Music From the 1942 Motion Picture Score
- 1991American Chamber Music
- 1991Cape Fear (soundtrack)
- 1992Herrmann / Waxman / Rózsa
- 1992Wuthering Heights (soundtrack)
- 1993Moby Dick - Cantata / For the Fallen
- 1993Mysterious Island (soundtrack)
- 1993Symphony / The Fantasticks
- 1993The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (soundtrack)
- 1993The Day the Earth Stood Still (soundtrack)
- 1994Citizen Kane (soundtrack)
- 1994Marnie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 1994Night Digger (soundtrack)
- 1994Souvenirs de Voyage / Echoes
- 1994The Devil And Daniel Webster / Currier And Ives / Silent Noon / For The Fallen (soundtrack)
- 1994Obsession
- 1995Fahrenheit 451
- 1995Fahrenheit 451 (soundtrack)
- 1996At the Movies
- 1996Bernard Hermann conducts Great British Film Music
- 1996Cape Fear (soundtrack)
- 1996Concerto Macabre
- 1996Garden of Evil / Prince of Players (soundtrack)
- 1996The Film Scores
- 1996The Four Faces of Jazz
- 1996The Mysterious Film World of Bernard Herrmann (National Philharmonic Orchestra feat. conductor: Bernard Herrmann)
- 1996Vertigo
- 1997Journey to the Center of the Earth (soundtrack)
- 1997Music From Great Film Classics
- 1997Psycho
- 1997The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (soundtrack)
- 1998Psycho (soundtrack)
- 1998The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
- 1998The Trouble With Harry
- 1998Torn Curtain (The Unused Score)
- 1999Bernard Herrmann at Fox, Volume 1: Tender Is the Night / The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit / A Hatful of Rain (soundtrack)
- 1999Bernard Herrmann at Fox, Volume 2: Garden of Evil / Prince of Players / King of the Khyber Rifles (soundtrack)
- 1999Citizen Kane
- 1999Jason and the Argonauts
- 1999The Twilight Zone
- 1999The Wrong Man (soundtrack)
- 2000Bernard Herrmann at Fox, Volume 3: Anna and the King of Siam (soundtrack)
- 2000Citizen Kane (soundtrack)
- 2000Marnie
- 2001Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (soundtrack)
- 2001The 3 Worlds of Gulliver
- 2002Joy in the Morning (soundtrack)
- 2003On Dangerous Ground (soundtrack)
- 2003The Day the Earth Stood Still
- 2004Citizen Kane (soundtrack)
- 2007Fahrenheit 451 (soundtrack)
- 2007Mysterious Island (soundtrack)
- 2007North by Northwest
- 2007Piano Concertos 1 & 2 / Early One Morning
- 2007Twisted Nerve / The Bride Wore Black (soundtrack)
- 2008A Christmas Carol / A Child Is Born (soundtrack)
- 2008Four American Quartets
- 2008The Kentuckian / Williamsburg: The Story Of A Patriot
- 2010Psycho
- 2010Citizen Kane
- 2011Battle Of Neretva/The Naked And The Dead (soundtrack)
- 2011Les Hauts de Hurlevent (Wuthering Heights)
- 2011Moby Dick / Sinfonietta
- 2011The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Volume 1 (soundtrack)
- 2011The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Volume 2 (soundtrack)
- 2012It's Alive (soundtrack)
- 2012Jane Eyre (soundtrack)
- 2015Hangover Square / 5 Fingers (soundtrack)
- 2015Herrmann / Gershwin / Waxman / Copland
- 2015White Witch Doctor (soundtrack)
- 2016Herrmann: Souvenirs de Voyage / Del Tredici: Magyar Madness
- 2016The Snows of Kilimanjaro: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 2016Twisted Nerve (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (soundtrack)
- 2018The Bride Wore Black (soundtrack)
- 2020Endless Night (soundtrack)
- 2020L'orgue mystique (Aux grandes orgues de la cathédrale d'Orléans)
- 2020Whitman (Radio Drama by Norman Corwin) / Souvenirs de voyage / Psycho: A Narrative for String Orchestra
- 2023Psycho
- 2023Suite from Wuthering Heights / Echoes for Strings
- 2024Torn Curtain (Expanded/ Remastered Limited Edition) (soundtrack)
- 2025Classic Soundtracks
- 2026Williams: Flute Concerto / Herrmann: Souvenirs de Voyage
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Film Music MapNL Map
- The Dream Factory: Film Reel 2NL Reader
- The Dream Factory: Film Reel 5NL Reader
- The Dream Factory: Film Reel 8NL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Suspense and psychological thriller (Hitchcock) Genre
Between 1955 and 1964, Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann collaborated on a series of films.
- New Hollywood Genre
Bernard Herrmann completed the music for Taxi Driver (1976) shortly before his death, with a languid saxophone theme and menacing brass.
- Theremin, tape and electronic pioneers Genre
In The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Bernard Herrmann placed two theremins alongside electric violin, bass and guitar.
- Classic television music Genre
Bernard Herrmann wrote the first title music for The Twilight Zone (1959); the well-known guitar riff by Marius Constant followed a season later.