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Psycho [Soundtrack]

Bernard Herrmann Audio CD
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
Price: CDN$ 17.91 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 25. Details
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Product Details


1. Prelude
2. The City
3. Marion
4. Marion and Sam
5. Temptation
6. Flight
7. Patrol Car
8. The Car Lot
9. The Package
10. The Rainstorm
11. Hotel Room
12. The Window
13. The Parlor
14. The Madhouse
15. The Peephole
16. The Bathroom
17. The Murder
18. The Body
19. The Office
20. The Curtain
See all 40 tracks on this disc

Product Description

Amazon.ca

Much has been made of composer Bernard Herrmann's choice to use only razor-sharp, slashing strings for his score to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. And heaven knows it works like a dream (or a nightmare), the music feeling as edgy and colorless as the noir-ish black-and-white photography. But as noticeably effective as the knife-screeching violins are in the famous shower scene (followed by those deadly blows from the basses and cellos), they work just as powerfully--though perhaps not as noticeably--all throughout the picture. Herrmann evokes dread and tension with just a few notes, or captures Janet Leigh's flighty panic in pizzicato as she hits the fateful road to the Bates Motel after impulsively stealing a large sum of money from her employer. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Definative April 12 2004
Format:Audio CD
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.
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5.0 out of 5 stars AT THE TOP OF THE ART OF FILM SCORING Nov 15 2003
Format:Audio CD
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!

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4.0 out of 5 stars Music To Listen To While You Take A Shower Jan 17 2003
Format:Audio CD
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.

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Most recent customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Better than some...
Varese records has produced many recordings of old movies and even a soundtrack to a book (Star Wars Shadows of the Empire). Read more
Published on Jan 14 2003 by G. Altman
5.0 out of 5 stars The masterpiece of mystery music
It's hard to believe they gave Bernard Herrmann a small orchestra and he worked it out to make a masterpiece in film music! Read more
Published on Dec 25 2002 by scottie
3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, but there are some flaws
Joel McNeely's re-recording of one of the best scores in existence is pretty good. I am impressed at his re-recording of slow cues like "The City" (my favorite of the bunch! Read more
Published on Dec 2 2002 by Varese Fan
5.0 out of 5 stars Mr.Herrmann would be very very proud...
The shower music from "Psycho" is obviously the most recognizable theme in all of cinema history. Although this one is good, there are other themes. Read more
Published on Nov 25 2002 by "putayuflinch"
4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful rendition
I can hardly tell the difference between this and the actual score as played in the movie, which is more than can be said for the re-recording of the North by Northwest score. Read more
Published on Aug 7 2002 by Mrs Baldwin
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally Free Of The Fruit Cellar
First of all, for all of those who have whinned
about preferring an "original" soundtrack recording
-- forget about it! Was never made; never will be. Read more
Published on July 27 2002 by M. Packo
5.0 out of 5 stars One of many re-recordings
Joel McNeely's re-recordings of Herrmann's music are wonderful. This is a fine example as well as the best re-recording of "Psycho". Read more
Published on Feb 2 2002 by Kenwuest
5.0 out of 5 stars Herrmann's Masterpiece
Why would anyone want to record the complete score to Bernard Herrmann's PSYCHO when the composer himself had done so? Read more
Published on Sep 25 2001 by NNNNN
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Re-Created Soundtrack Album Yet!
I usually don't care for recordings of movie scores that aren't directly off the film's soundtrack. They're often poorly played, or they are severely truncated, with many cues... Read more
Published on July 25 2001 by Sandy McLendon
5.0 out of 5 stars Terror Is On This Masterpiece
The music from Psycho is one of my greatest soundtracks. The shrieking strings for the shower scene could make you jump.

I've been listening to it ever since last year. Read more

Published on Jun 19 2001
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