A full score reduction of the main titles from Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo." For further reading and analysis: www.redalyc.org/pdf/2970/2970... Patreon: / davidmccaulley I own nothing. Enjoy!
Nice job, David! As many times as I've deconstructed this score, I learn something new from every scholar who studies it. Vertigo is the gift that keeps on giving. (Andy Hill)
A million words wouldn't be enough to show my gratitude for all your work on film scores reductions you do here. And seeing "Vertigo" analyzed is a dream come true to me. Thank you, man, and God bless. Greetings from Poland.
I just heard this played live, with the film, at the New York Philharmonic. An overwhelming experience. Musically a revelation. The orchestration! Not one but two vibraphones, playing ff. Not one but two bass clarinets, both providing that particular Herrmann texture throughout the film.
The music absolutely stands on its own , yet perfectly fortifies and synergizes with the movie. Sometimes music this powerful feels like its "tacked on" or takes attention away from the movie. Its just an unbelievable achievement.
This was so worth the wait. :) Hermann's style reminds me of quote I read once (about Mobb Deep, of all artists): He got all the way to the end first, and said everything best.
Thank you, David, for this analysis. Around the 0:28 mark, it sounds quite washy, and I was wondering if the vibraphone was used as part of that E-Flat Minor/Major 7th chord. This entire Hermann score has that very effective, disorienting feel to it with the ostinatos built on the contrary motion. Also, just curious, if the motor WAS turned on for the vibraphone during that chord, I am wondering if the specific Hz was indicated in the score. I'm thinking it is between 5-10 Hz, though I could be wrong.
The vibraphone is playing some of the triplets. You can see it being added in and taken out three times. The motor was turned on and the notes rang for a while even though it was no longer playing.
Great score reduction. I think that "The Cloud" and "V-ger flyover" by Jerry Goldsmith (from Star Trek - The motion Picture) is heavily influenced by Vertigo!
Another composer definitely pushing the Herrmann-esque envelope forward is Natalie Holt. Her work on Loki would be very interesting to see analyzed. ru-vid.com/group/PL70kCl5lWT11pyxMM59MQVANLa8cbK5ZE
I always wondered if Goldsmith paid homage to his colleague (they were pals at CBS until their fallout) because those chord figures in The Cloud and Vger flyover echoed Journey to Center of Earth, Mysterious Island with Jerry sparkling his own magic touch to the ebbs of lower measures of those glorious cues
As great as the score is - no questions whatsoever - but isn‘t this recording just dreadful? (Especially for one used in the final film) Missed cues, wrong notes, terrible dynamics, ghastly expression - overall a massive disservice to the score
Sounds pretty good for an archival recording from '58, honestly. Compare the North by Northwest title sequence, where you can clearly hear tape splices a couple times.
There was a major union strike or just major union issues happening in the US at the time. Herrmann was forced to record the score in London. They do an alright job, but yes, it’s not nearly as good as scores could’ve been back then. Joel McNeely and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra did an amazing series of Bernard Herrmann re-recordings in the 90’s, and their version of Vertigo sounds so much better.
@@Symphorch I own both the original and the McNeely version. Whatever version he used here is definitely better-mastered than the one heard on my Hitchcock box set, itself one of the better takes used in the original score. (Maybe he sourced it from the 5.1 remaster of the tapes; unsure.) Things really got rough/noisy with the mono cues Muir Matheson had to record after Vienna in London. I'm not certain but I would assume this also caused problems for Joel down the line when acquiring the sheets needed to adapt the full score, as those cues are missing from the re-recording. But yeah, this is arguably the cleanest I've ever heard the original track sound (dynamic range dipping at 2:24 notwithstanding) and I do think it kind of sucks if you're going to be bemoaning the audio quality right out the gate when it sounds like David took pains to avoid the worst the score is known for.
Hello! Thank you for your amazing work! Are there any option to have your reduction on sheets? Any suggestions to find orchestral scores? Please attend me on Instagram.
