The violin is a scary instrument. Don't believe me? Listen to this score and you'll believe it too. I hadn't seen Psycho in a long while when I picked up this score. I decided to give it a try because I liked what Herrmann had done with the score to North by Northwest (another great score!). I of course knew the famous piece that accompanied the infamous shower scene but I didn't really remember much of the rest of the score. After the first listen, that changed and the music is ingrained in my mind.
The score is performed by an orchestra comprised of nothing but the strings section. Herrmann wanted to try an experiment in minimalist scoring for several reasons. Chief among them was the fact that Hitchcock was working on an extremely tight budget and another was that Herrmann felt that a score performed by only strings would be more appropriate for the black and white film. The starkness of the film was indeed heightened by the musical score. Just like in North by Northwest, Herrmann composes a main piece that is used several times throughout the score. This main theme is presented first in Prelude and it is reprised several times after that. The rising and falling chords of this track lend to the eerie mood created by the film.
Perhaps the most famous piece of music in film history, The Murder is the music from the shower scene. Hitchcock originally envisioned the scene without any score whatsoever, but Herrmann scored the scene anyway and sold Hitchcock on the screeching violins which to this day never fail to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. This score is truly scary and what's even more amazing is the fact that this terror is created by strings only. While I have heard scary music in my time, this is the type of score that I avoid listening to by myself.
I haven't yet seen the remake of Psycho nor have I listened to Danny Elfman's rendition of Herrmann's score. This is the Varese Sarabande release of the score that came out in 1997 and it is probably one of the most complete versions of the score out there. McNeely does a fine job as conductor and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra performs the score in such a way that it has a vintage sound. With just over 60 minutes of music and 40 tracks, this CD is well worth buying.
Total time: 61:11
| 1: Prelude (1:55) | 21: The Water (1:46) |
| 2: The City (2:12) | 22: The Car (0:52) |
| 3: Marion (1:36) | 23: Cleanup (2:14) |
| 4: Marion and Sam (1:52) | 24: The Swamp (2:03) |
| 5: Temptation (2:51) | 25: The Search (0:41) |
| 6: Flight (1:07) | 26: The Shadow (0:50) |
| 7: Patrol Car (1:04) | 27: Phone Booth (0:53) |
| 8: The Car Lot (1:45) | 28: The Porch (1:04) |
| 9: The Package (1:31) | 29: The Stairs (2:58) |
| 10: The Rainstorm (3:09) | 30: The Knife (0:27) |
| 11: Hotel Room (2:04) | 31: The Search (B) (1:39) |
| 12: The Window (1:13) | 32: The First Floor (2:44) |
| 13: The Parlor (1:37) | 33: Cabin 10 (1:07) |
| 14: The Madhouse (1:54) | 34: Cabin 1 (1:05) |
| 15: The Peephole (3:00) | 35: The Hill (1:03) |
| 16: The Bathroom (1:02) | 36: The Bedroom (0:59) |
| 17: The Murder (1:03) | 37: The Toys (1:01) |
| 18: The Body (0:15) | 38: The Cellar (1:06) |
| 19: The Office (1:20) | 39: Discovery (0:41) |
| 20: The Curtain (1:15) | 40: Finale (1:32) |