Psycho [Soundtrack]

Spectacular re-recording of what remains one of the most recognizable and imitated film scores of all time. As usual with McNeely and the RSNO, the performance is both electrifying and exact, and the recording is spot on. Herrmann felt that Hitchcock's black-and-white film needed an equally black-and-white score, so he removed the "color" from the orchestra by limiting his writing strictly to the string section. What he accomplished was amazing in its ability to manipulate one's primal emotions, with or without the film. From the panic-stricken opening titles, through the long passages of drawn-out suspense, to the famous murder "stings," few other scores have done so much to build and shape the overall mood and movement of a movie. This completed Herrmann's trilogy of masterpieces for Hitchcock films, the prior ones being 'Vertigo' and 'North by Northwest.' If the former was his most darkly romantic, and the latter his most light-hearted and adventurous, then this one is easily the bleakest and most relentlessly single-minded. Yet it holds up splendidly as a stand-alone piece of work, brought to life once again under McNeely's direction. I'm not usually a fan of re-recordings, but he and the RSNO seem to get Herrmann's work just right time and again. A must-own if you love film music.

Can one deny that Bernard Herrmann's score to "Psycho" belongs in the top five of all-time great film scores? I think not.

Joel McNeely and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra have performed the score masterfully with every thrilling, as well as subtle, chord.

Purists may "scoff" that this rendition differs from the one conducted by Herrmann in the film, and to them I say "So what?"

This is merely one ensemble's interpretation of the work of a master as seen and played through the eyes of composer/arranger McNeely.

In other words, it's worth the money to buy and savor one's purchase!

The music for the 1960, Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, is a notable part of film history. Bernard Herrmann's score takes us on a "frenzied" trip inside the mind of a madman. The composer decided that the best way to score the film was to use string instruments. At the time, this was a bold move, that to my recollection, has never been tried again (except for the '98 remake). The music for the picture remains, as one of the most effective scores of all time. Even folks who have never seen the film, no doubt recognize the music for the now infamous "Shower Scene", just the same. That fact shows just how much the music has crept into our collective consciousness. Much the same way that composer John Williams's theme from Jaws has, whether you have seen the film or not, you still know the music from that scene, when you hear it

This 1997 re-recording from Varese Sarabande, conducted by Joel McNeeley, is a fine recreation of Bernard Herrmann's work. Sorry, as much as I like composer Danny Elfman's work, his rendition for the aforementioned remake, doesn't quite have the same (recreated) style as this version does. I guess, because I was down on the idea of doing the remake in the first place, therefore, it just doesn't resonate as well for me as this version does.

The CD contains 40 tracks, and has a running time of 61 minutes, 9 seconds This rerecording is recommended and is the next best thing to owning the original by Bernard Herrmann himself.