Thank you Rick for sharing the Bernard Hermann music . I'm a huge fan of Bernard Hermann. He is a great composer , a master of strange music, showing the inside of the characters of the movie.
Bernard Herrmann is my favourite film composer. All these theoretical concepts have been very helpful for my compositions. Thank you Rick for these videos.
In my humble opinion, the prelude to Vertigo is one of the most brilliant film music pieces ever written. Bernard Herrmann was a genius. Too bad he fell out with Hitchcock.
@@Benefacez Hitchcock replaced Herrmann with John Addison (Torn Curtain). In "Topaz" it was Maurice Jarre, in "Frenzy" it was Ron Goodwin. John Williams wrote the score for Hitch's last film: "Family Plot". Obviously it was a huge mistake firing Herrmann. Listened to the 1977 recording of Herrmann's score for Torn Curtain. Fantastic! Not to belittle John Addison, who probably just followed Hitchcock's suggestions, but his score sounds almost like a light romantic comedy of the 1960s. It's very well made of course, that's not the issue.
Totally agree that he was a composing genius and had a monumental influence for all the film composers who came after him, including people like John Williams
Since seeing Taxi Driver in 74, now every time I watch the first season on Twilight Zone, especially the original intro, I hear orchestrated similarities since learning he did both. The woodwind + string movements, especially the use of oboe + harp are so similar. Just a 2 note alternation can be so emotive with him
My favorite is beneath the 12 mile reef. Nine harps cascading down, layer upon layer. Beautifully written. And that majestic Main title. But my favorite Main title of his is the ghost and Mrs. Muir.
Vertigo was completely remastered both footage and audio a couple of decades later, and i managed to pick up one of these copies for ONE dollar at a good will store. So much good and hard work collecting dust, i hope people start doing vintage movie nights with there children, keep this work alive.
Absolutely beatiful... especially Psycho. All to throw you of balance; if there was any to begin with... in other words, psychopathic. Love Bernard Herrmann.
Perhaps the greatest film composer ever! His use of the theremin on “The Day the Earth Stood Still” was genius. I could list so many other clips and pieces, too many to mention. Hitchcock fired him on “Torn Curtain” which was replaced by a nondescript score…mistake.
Hitchcock asked Herrmann to write music for the crop duster scene in North By Northwest. Bernie told Hitch that he would, but he said the scene will play better without music. Herrmann was correct. When they were filming Psycho, Hitch did not want any music for the shower scene. Bernie said that he would write some music for it anyway. Again Herrmann’s instincts were correct. If you turn down the volume while watching Psycho, you will see and hear how Herrmann’s music carries that film. The same goes for The Day the Earth Stood Still and Vertigo. The scenes of Jimmy Stewart trailing Novak are rather pedestrian, but Herrmann used a variation of a Spanish dance to give Stewart’s movements a pulse. The music propels the scene, build tension, and references the Spanish history of the locale. The man was freakin’ brilliant. Sadly he did not believe his contributions for cinema were as meaningful as his desire to write a great symphony, a goal he never quite achieved. Some of that material for his symphony provided the basis of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Danny Elfmann lifted his Batman Theme from Herrmann’s soundtrack to Journey To The Center of the Earth. If you want to learn more about Herrmann there is an interesting book called A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann.
At around 19:00 when you're playing the vertigo cue you had accidentally two different tracks playing together... So something on top of the vertigo prelude unfortunately ☹️
thank you Rick. a very nice introduction yo the Psycho Music. i may be wrong but if you look at the music Herrmann composed after the Knife Sequence, it us basically the same as the knife music although played two octaves down. would like you to examine his Devil and Daniel Webster film score.
If you continue with Hermann, please include his fantasy work; The Day The Earth Stood Still is absolutely unique. Personally, I like his score for Jason & The Argonauts a great deal. Some of his writing in the Harryhausen films is cliché (camp dances come to mind) but there are some wonderful and very Hermannesque cues, such as when Hermes takes Jason to Mount Olympus. But don't forget Gort and the two Theremins!
Martin Hand Yeah,this reminds me of the vid where they deconstructed the Beatles opening hard days night chord and found out many different things from one chord!
Thanks as this video was a keeper and fantastic about possibly the greatest American film composer in my mind, sorry John Williams. Have you ever thought about though, doing a session on the great Jerry Goldsmith in his Logan's Run/Star Trek/Planet of the Apes days of old, or certainly Lalo Schifrin would be second great to Mr. Herrmann and his Citizen Kane/Hitchcock tracks??---old episodes of Twilight Zone really were a showcase of fantastic musicianship and thematic material with fewer but really high quality instrumentation those great days. I really enjoy the sounds of vintage analogue synths contrasted with great orchestral acoustic scores with great motivic development like Logan's Run, one of the greatest tracks all time IMHO. Could you do more on motivic development of melody/themes vs. all the stuff with chords/modes that are important, but themes/melody are really important with film scoring also IMHO. Seems like themes and variations are really important and in tying story lines/character development together, e.g. in parallel to the actual films and what's being "commented" on the screen. Having a theme and "coherency" is really important vs. all the random notes of a mode, or 12 tonal serialism. For example, in Logan's Run, that stepwise chromatic theme is used all over the place but varied, but it makes one think, man, this guy Goldsmith really knew what he was doing and thensome, when you keep hearing that main theme being varied all over the place in various and interesting contexts---along with the super synthesized effects of a modular synth---which would unfortunately be unaffordable inaccessible to most folks in these dark days.
Great analysis Rick! I have been doing orchestration for a month now and your videos give me great inspiration. Thank you! Can you do a vid on Dominic Frontiere's Outerlimits theme. It is on of my favorite Sci Fi themes.
Bernard Herrman and Jerry Goldsmith are my two favorite film composers EVER!!! Of course, BH listened to Sibelius, Prokofiev and Sir William Walton (among others)
@Pepper Williams, for me 3. Herrman 2. Goldsmith 1. Williams Korngold, Horner, Silvestri, Bernstein, Barry and many others I have a hard time ranking. Most overrated....Zimmer Most underrated.....Bruce Broughton
@@solaariz Newman and Rozsa come next after those top 3 but Herrmann should get top notch as both Williams and Goldsmith were influenced a tad bit by Herrmann
@@boneeatingsilicate580 I was speaking from a purely personal point of view. Mainly due to the fact that Williams has scored a good percentage of my favorite films and Motif's. That was by no means a definitive ranking of film composers, Herrmann should be at the top of everyones list!
Hi Rick, I am studying the Prelude at the moment and the first chord is not in fact an F Augmented chord, but a B flat minor added Major 7th. Which is why when the melody comes in in the violins you can still sort of hear the implied b flat minor added major 7th.
One thing to note about the apparently "accidental" A in the 'Psycho' stabbing chords: if indeed some of the players accidentally grazed the adjacent A string, the note that would be sounding is an A an octave lower than what we are hearing and what you are reproducing on the keyboard. The open A string is the first A, not the second, above middle C. I agree there is an A in there, but it cannot be the adjacent open A string.
I don't know a thing about music; nevertheless, I enjoyed this. I think Bernard Hermann's music is incredible. His "Vertigo" theme seems to have been copied in "The Day Mars Invaded Earth" and Art of Noise did a piece that seems very close to the music in the "North by Northwest" scene where Grant is outside James Mason's hangout, near the end of the film. The talents of many composers who do movie music are amazing to me.
But am I wrong in thinking the tense arpeggio of Vertigo's intro became the basis of the love theme chord progression later? Or am I imagining that? I don't have the skill to pick it out as well as Mr. Beato.
Thanks. I enjoyed your listening and analysis. I think the beginning of the Vertigo excerpt may have had Eb min 6 in the 'left hand'. When the two hands 'meet' the right hand is on Eb, while the left hand is on C. It's still the same basic sound, Eb melodic minor, but it avoids the half step dissonance of Eb against D
Hi Rick, I've been listening to Hermanns' North By Northwest score which has some fun/interesting cues in it. Would be very nice if you'd make a video analyzing some parts of it. all the best!
Excellent video! Huge BH fan here. Any chance the second part is coming soon? Would love to learn more. Also, I thought I'd read that the half-diminished chord was the quintessential Herrmann chord, but I was surprised to not hear it mentioned here. Perhaps that was just a favorite of his for a certain time period. For example, I believe it was used a lot in the Twilight Zone scores.
People are commenting on the Stravinsky’s Rite of the Spring influence.. I don’t see any direct relation to it here. These movie composers were classically trained musicians, some like Hermann expressed himself in contemporary music language in general it doesn’t mean he took parts from an specific work or another
Hi Rick! Love your lessons! Thank you so much! Could you do a video on Sight reading for guitar? Maybe recommending books and pieces to start working on that! I would really appreciate that! Thank u! Cheers from Colombia
thanks - but how could you not to mention the best part of the intro music from Vertigo with trills of strings & flutes with vibes that leads to that Tristan chord-ish passage & then that amazing resolve?
Hey Rick, I'm doing my best to consume all of your videos - they are awesome! I think I might have to start taking lessons with you in 2017. But I'm trying to watch all the videos first! I heard that Bmajor7 >> Eminor progression as a major I to a minor iv chord. It was masterful how he used the F in the melody line to give it a Lydian flavor, but took you right to the minor third of that iv chord. I'm going to remember that as a principle! "Able to move between major I and minor iv chord using that #4/b5 in the melody." Thank you so much! Andrew Colyer New York
Bernard Herrmann acknowledged Delius as his favorite composer. (Delius' emanuesis Eric Fenby scored several of Hitcock's original films.) Delius composed Koanga decades before Porgie and Bess and Showboat. The theme for "Old Man River" can be found in Delius' "Appalachia". Members of the "Delius Society" included Bernard Herrmann, David Rose, Mel Torme, Duke Ellington, Nelson Riddle, and the list goes on. When are you going to do a segment on Delius?
Thank you, very Interesting! At least The Psycho Prelude if not the whole psychscore is heavily influenced by Stravinsky‘s Rite of Spring i guess. Like Oscar Wild said: “Talent borrows. Genius Steals!”
PLS Rick ! could you analize the main theme from taxi driver ? awesome, I love film and this is REALLY useful! also, I loved your videos about Pat Metheny, if you could do some videos about Kurt Rosenwinkel's style and sound or other jazz guitarrist would be awesome :) Greetings from chile (sorry for this sh**ty grammar :c)
Where you hear a D flat, I hear a C natural. To me, it goes like this : D-Bb-Gb-D downwards against Eb-Gb-Bb-C.upwards. Which results in a whole step dissonance, instead of a half-step. If I'm right, the chord would be Eb m M7 -- agreed -- with an added major 6th.
Would you do a video on R.D. Burman, an Indian Film Composer? I am very curious in studying Indian Film Scoring and these videos are an excellent source of information!
Im pretty sure he wasn't thinking "ah a jazz line would work here" Just wondering when you improvise or compose- do you think - "ah a 7th major chord here is closely related to this minor and that one...doesn't sound connected but they really are! Im so sophisticated!" I doubt Herrmann composed in such a contrived manner. Mind its always interesting to analyze progressions.. Thanks for the videos
Hi Rick, in Vertigo, when the strings come out with the minor seventh on top I hear a middle C as a shadow, as if it was an open string played by mistake. Can you please explain that? It's just before the french horn, exactly on the high strings' D flat, perhaps due to harmonics (is that D flat really played by cellos?). Thank you, this is my first comment and I skip all the excitement (which I have!!!!! You are doing great and I don't miss any of your videos. Keep doing them. Greetings from Italy)
There are a few places that sell piano reductions of excerpts. Sometimes, the first pages are viewable online, but there's nothing like the score in the composer's own hand. I have a few scores (Vertigo, North by Northwest) I can assume are in Herrmann's own handwritten manuscripts, scanned from the originals in the Library on Congress. They have been interesting views into his compositional process (and even revalatory to copyist's errors that have crept up in recordings!).
even though they are the same notes, it's all to do with which note (or 'tonic') the music is built around. Think of the tonic as a type of gravity that the rest of the music wants to get back to. With the modes this feeling is not as strong because we're all used to major and minor music and wanting to get back to the tonic in that (so in G major it sounds 'resolved' and rested when we get back to G). An easy way to hear the difference is go to a piano, bang out a low octave C, hold it, and experiment with the notes of C lydian. You'll hear that raised 4th(F#) gives a particular sound, often described as things like uplifting, magical, mysterious, 'fantasy' etc.
another great thing to do to hear the difference is play around in G major, then play around in G lydian and compare the difference..G lydian is just G major but with a raised 4th, so C# instead of C.
Oh! What are we seeing behind you? It looks like your ProTools instance is loaded up with stems from these cues. Especially at 24:44, we can see all those track meters light up on playback. Hm, perhaps it's just different cues on each track but only one of them is soloed? Got me excited for a minute that there might be stems out there for these classics that are accessible for study. :)
Those are the stereo files of the pieces I'm playing. Where would you even get stems? It's an orchestra playing all at once. This is the 1950's!!! There are no stems of orchestral pieces. If you use synths like a lot of todays composers you can have PT sessions but not then. It was 3 mics to 1" Tape. DO some reading! Haha!!
There certainly are stems of orchestral pieces, and I even have some. One piece even engineered by Shawn Murphy. :) I guess you could argue that recordings of single mics shouldn't be called stems (after all they're not stereo) but stem seems to have become the lingua franca. It didn't seem *that* far fetched to me that even back then they could be recording many different mic positions to separate reels for later mixing, and that those could have since been digitized and circulated. Obviously acquiring such a thing would be some kind of holy grail. But, yes, Occam's razor and all, it ought to have occurred to me first that those PT tracks were different cues and you just had one soloed.
Nice job! Very envious you managed to pick that apart so effortlessly. It'll be great to get an analysis on Ennio Morricone's score for 'The Thing' - especially the particularly disturbing Shostakovich(ish) interweaving melody lines from 0:46 onwards: ua-cam.com/video/a9gywh6_EH4/v-deo.html
I will do one on Morricone for sure! You know my brain hurts when I listen hard to these pieces. It would be easier with the score but not as challenging :)
Hi Rick, can I ask what sounds/software are you using for your strings? Or just your sound library in general as all of your vids are quality sounds when using orchestral instruments
23:20 The minor maj7 chord is not THAT common in jazz - of course, the mi6 chord is more often used as a minor i. And the use of the mi(maj7)in the line cliché is not similar to what is happening here in B Hermann's music. In the line cliché, the mi maj7 is a passing chord sound in the middle of basic contrapuntal movement. Whereas in Hermann, the mi ma7 and augmented sounds are "stand-alone" and held - (I don't know if to say "modally" would be the best way to describe it - in any case, it's definitely non-tonal). Chelsea Bridge and Nica's Dream(which Horace Silver used as his point of departure…) are the first modal usages of the min(maj7) chord that I'm aware in jazz. You probably had to use the 'line cliché' to introduce the chord for those who only have a popular music background as I'm not aware of any modal use of min (maj7) in Rock or Pop… (Steely Dan, Radiohead, Pink Floyd???) The only similar 'harmonically ambiguous ' use of augmented/min maj7 relationship in the jazz repertoire that I'm aware of is the beginning of the bridge to Mingus' "Fables Of Faubus" which alternates between Bbmi(maj7) and Gbmi(maj7): two mi(maj7) chords that share the same augmented superstructure triad (Db+). Yet with the 9th in the melody of the Bbmi(maj7) that affirms the melodic minor character of the maj(maj7)chord but then the arrival of the Gbmi(maj7) in the 3rd bar of the bridge simultaneously refers to the whole tone relationships implied by the augmented triad that is in common between the 2 chords. I would be interested to see how you would analyze this situation > certainly less complex harmonically than Hermann's 100% written music, but quite interesting all the same. (And perhaps easier for the majority of us to digest…) Sorry, for being so nit-picky!(…) But it's only because I found the video so fascinating! ! ! Thanks Rick for the wonderful explanations! ! ! And introducing me to a whole world that I barely knew about before today… Looking forward to having the time to watch more of your videos.
BH didn't win the Oscar for "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," but he should have. Herrmann was quoted as saying this was his favorite score.
I love that score a lot too. A masterpiece
Walking distance is one of his best in my opinion. The haunting reminiscent sound is to die for. It's the duality between fond memories and loss.
Thank you Rick for sharing the Bernard Hermann music . I'm a huge fan of Bernard Hermann. He is a great composer , a master of strange music, showing the inside of the characters of the movie.
my favourite composer. his music still sounds completely crazy
So happy to see you talk about this musical God.
Bernard Herrmann is my favourite film composer.
All these theoretical concepts have been very helpful for my compositions.
Thank you Rick for these videos.
In my humble opinion, the prelude to Vertigo is one of the most brilliant film music pieces ever written. Bernard Herrmann was a genius. Too bad he fell out with Hitchcock.
This is correct. All I would add is that the rest of the score is just as good.
Yes, that was too bad for Hitchcock, as it became evident who really paints the picture
Too bad because Herrmann's Torn Curtain score was great..16 French horns, 12 flutes, 9 trombones and 4 tubas
@@Benefacez Hitchcock replaced Herrmann with John Addison (Torn Curtain). In "Topaz" it was Maurice Jarre, in "Frenzy" it was Ron Goodwin. John Williams wrote the score for Hitch's last film: "Family Plot". Obviously it was a huge mistake firing Herrmann. Listened to the 1977 recording of Herrmann's score for Torn Curtain. Fantastic! Not to belittle John Addison, who probably just followed Hitchcock's suggestions, but his score sounds almost like a light romantic comedy of the 1960s. It's very well made of course, that's not the issue.
Totally agree that he was a composing genius and had a monumental influence for all the film composers who came after him, including people like John Williams
Hangover Square is an incredible movie with a great Herrmann score.
Brilliant episode. Love Bernard Hermanns film scores. Lots of information to take in here. Thanks again Rick.
I'm a huge fan, thank you for these tutorials Rick -KSHMR
Thank for your tutorials on splice to !your right he is really good but some times I think is really advance to me lol
+KSHMR thanks !!!
Wow it is so awesome seeing you here! Love your work KSHMR. Also, Rick, i'm DYING for a part two of this hahaha your tutorials are the best!
Rick, if it’s great music of any genre, you are THE MAN!
Since seeing Taxi Driver in 74, now every time I watch the first season on Twilight Zone, especially the original intro, I hear orchestrated similarities since learning he did both.
The woodwind + string movements, especially the use of oboe + harp are so similar.
Just a 2 note alternation can be so emotive with him
Absolutely genius master class(es) Thank you Rick for your tutorial and historical insights!
My favorite is beneath the 12 mile reef. Nine harps cascading down, layer upon layer. Beautifully written. And that majestic Main title. But my favorite Main title of his is the ghost and Mrs. Muir.
Vertigo was completely remastered both footage and audio a couple of decades later, and i managed to pick up one of these copies for ONE dollar at a good will store. So much good and hard work collecting dust, i hope people start doing vintage movie nights with there children, keep this work alive.
Listening to taxi driver and vertigo soundtrack is what made me fall in love with composing.
Absolutely beatiful... especially Psycho. All to throw you of balance; if there was any to begin with... in other words, psychopathic. Love Bernard Herrmann.
Twilight Zone bro. Best show ever. What a score that holds the show together
Benny Herrmann ranks alongside Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams and Maurice Jarre as one of the cinema's greatest composers.
Perhaps the greatest film composer ever! His use of the theremin on “The Day the Earth Stood Still” was genius. I could list so many other clips and pieces, too many to mention. Hitchcock fired him on “Torn Curtain” which was replaced by a nondescript score…mistake.
Can't wait to see the next one on him thank you!!! Loved this.
I dont know why Sisters does not get more love..incredible score with moog
Agree !
Hitchcock asked Herrmann to write music for the crop duster scene in North By Northwest.
Bernie told Hitch that he would, but he said the scene will play better without music.
Herrmann was correct.
When they were filming Psycho, Hitch did not want any music for the shower scene. Bernie said that he would write some music for it anyway.
Again Herrmann’s instincts were correct.
If you turn down the volume while watching Psycho, you will see and hear how Herrmann’s music carries that film. The same goes for The Day the Earth Stood Still and Vertigo.
The scenes of Jimmy Stewart trailing Novak are rather pedestrian, but Herrmann used a variation of a Spanish dance to give Stewart’s movements a pulse. The music propels the scene, build tension, and references the Spanish history of the locale. The man was freakin’ brilliant.
Sadly he did not believe his contributions for cinema were as meaningful as his desire to write a great symphony, a goal he never quite achieved. Some of that material for his symphony provided the basis of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
Danny Elfmann lifted his Batman Theme from Herrmann’s soundtrack to Journey To The Center of the Earth.
If you want to learn more about Herrmann there is an interesting book called A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann.
Awesome as usual. Thank you Rick.
This is great, thanks Rick!
Ennio Morricone, please.
At around 19:00 when you're playing the vertigo cue you had accidentally two different tracks playing together... So something on top of the vertigo prelude unfortunately ☹️
Brilliantly done
He should have won more oscars but only got one, for the Devil and Daniel Webster. That influences my opinion of the oscars.
Keep it up Rick, you did Bernie great!
This kind of video is absolutely awesome! Thank you very much!
thank you Rick. a very nice introduction yo the Psycho Music. i may be wrong but if you look at the music Herrmann composed after the Knife Sequence, it us basically the same as the knife music although played two octaves down. would like you to examine his Devil and Daniel Webster film score.
If you continue with Hermann, please include his fantasy work; The Day The Earth Stood Still is absolutely unique. Personally, I like his score for Jason & The Argonauts a great deal. Some of his writing in the Harryhausen films is cliché (camp dances come to mind) but there are some wonderful and very Hermannesque cues, such as when Hermes takes Jason to Mount Olympus. But don't forget Gort and the two Theremins!
Please do more video about Bernard Herrmann.
I absolutely will. Anything you are thinking of?
Hmm E and D# violins in unison! Love your videos. New Fan.
Martin Hand Yeah,this reminds me of the vid where they deconstructed the
Beatles opening hard days night chord and found out many different things from one chord!
One of them had to do with the recording method itself which the non sound engineer would never even know about...
Extremely interesting , thank you for these tutorials.
MOAR?
Sending an immense thank you for these studies Rick! *bowing down*
I hope you explain Radar... That's one of my favorites ever and i was just to trying to figure out on my classical.. And getting frustrated. Lol
HerMAAAN… was the man!
Terrific.
Thanks as this video was a keeper and fantastic about possibly the greatest American film composer in my mind, sorry John Williams. Have you ever thought about though, doing a session on the great Jerry Goldsmith in his Logan's Run/Star Trek/Planet of the Apes days of old, or certainly Lalo Schifrin would be second great to Mr. Herrmann and his Citizen Kane/Hitchcock tracks??---old episodes of Twilight Zone really were a showcase of fantastic musicianship and thematic material with fewer but really high quality instrumentation those great days. I really enjoy the sounds of vintage analogue synths contrasted with great orchestral acoustic scores with great motivic development like Logan's Run, one of the greatest tracks all time IMHO. Could you do more on motivic development of melody/themes vs. all the stuff with chords/modes that are important, but themes/melody are really important with film scoring also IMHO. Seems like themes and variations are really important and in tying story lines/character development together, e.g. in parallel to the actual films and what's being "commented" on the screen. Having a theme and "coherency" is really important vs. all the random notes of a mode, or 12 tonal serialism. For example, in Logan's Run, that stepwise chromatic theme is used all over the place but varied, but it makes one think, man, this guy Goldsmith really knew what he was doing and thensome, when you keep hearing that main theme being varied all over the place in various and interesting contexts---along with the super synthesized effects of a modular synth---which would unfortunately be unaffordable inaccessible to most folks in these dark days.
I needed this
Great analysis Rick! I have been doing orchestration for a month now and your videos give me great inspiration. Thank you! Can you do a vid on Dominic Frontiere's Outerlimits theme. It is on of my favorite Sci Fi themes.
Fantastic video Rick, Thanks!
thank you !!
This is great stuff! Thank you!
Bernard Herrman and Jerry Goldsmith are my two favorite film composers EVER!!! Of course, BH listened to Sibelius, Prokofiev and Sir William Walton (among others)
@Pepper Williams, for me
3. Herrman
2. Goldsmith
1. Williams
Korngold, Horner, Silvestri, Bernstein, Barry and many others I have a hard time ranking.
Most overrated....Zimmer
Most underrated.....Bruce Broughton
@@solaariz Newman and Rozsa come next after those top 3 but Herrmann should get top notch as both Williams and Goldsmith were influenced a tad bit by Herrmann
@@boneeatingsilicate580 I was speaking from a purely personal point of view. Mainly due to the fact that Williams has scored a good percentage of my favorite films and Motif's. That was by no means a definitive ranking of film composers, Herrmann should be at the top of everyones list!
@@solaariz be careful next time..that was a close one!
BH Was friends with and influenced by Charles Ives.
Hi Rick, I am studying the Prelude at the moment and the first chord is not in fact an F Augmented chord, but a B flat minor added Major 7th. Which is why when the melody comes in in the violins you can still sort of hear the implied b flat minor added major 7th.
One thing to note about the apparently "accidental" A in the 'Psycho' stabbing chords: if indeed some of the players accidentally grazed the adjacent A string, the note that would be sounding is an A an octave lower than what we are hearing and what you are reproducing on the keyboard. The open A string is the first A, not the second, above middle C. I agree there is an A in there, but it cannot be the adjacent open A string.
I agree!
My top one horror composer ! Psycho ! The masterpiece!
I don't know a thing about music; nevertheless, I enjoyed this. I think Bernard Hermann's music is incredible. His "Vertigo" theme seems to have been copied in "The Day Mars Invaded Earth" and Art of Noise did a piece that seems very close to the music in the "North by Northwest" scene where Grant is outside James Mason's hangout, near the end of the film. The talents of many composers who do movie music are amazing to me.
Brilliant
But am I wrong in thinking the tense arpeggio of Vertigo's intro became the basis of the love theme chord progression later? Or am I imagining that? I don't have the skill to pick it out as well as Mr. Beato.
Thanks. I enjoyed your listening and analysis. I think the beginning of the Vertigo excerpt may have had Eb min 6 in the 'left hand'. When the two hands 'meet' the right hand is on Eb, while the left hand is on C. It's still the same basic sound, Eb melodic minor, but it avoids the half step dissonance of Eb against D
Really interesting :) thank you , You should do one on Danny Elfman and his score of batman 1989. He was also a big fan of hermann btw :)
This is great, you have earned a new subscriber. Could you do a video on the music of Jerry Goldsmith?
As this was part 1 from 2016, is there a part 2?
I love all of these film composer video demos. Any chance you might get to Jerry Goldsmith and John Barry?
Yes indeed. JERRY GOLDSMITH - What a great composer !
Wow, it's really incredible what a few repeated notes can do.
Thanks! If you do another Bernard Herrmann one, maybe you could compare the love theme from Vertigo and Wagner's Tristan chord passages.
Hi Rick, I've been listening to Hermanns' North By Northwest score which has some fun/interesting cues in it. Would be very nice if you'd make a video analyzing some parts of it. all the best!
It was interesting. Thnaks
Excellent video! Huge BH fan here. Any chance the second part is coming soon? Would love to learn more.
Also, I thought I'd read that the half-diminished chord was the quintessential Herrmann chord, but I was surprised to not hear it mentioned here. Perhaps that was just a favorite of his for a certain time period. For example, I believe it was used a lot in the Twilight Zone scores.
People are commenting on the Stravinsky’s Rite of the Spring influence.. I don’t see any direct relation to it here. These movie composers were classically trained musicians, some like Hermann expressed himself in contemporary music language in general it doesn’t mean he took parts from an specific work or another
Hi Rick! Love your lessons! Thank you so much! Could you do a video on Sight reading for guitar? Maybe recommending books and pieces to start working on that! I would really appreciate that! Thank u! Cheers from Colombia
thanks - but how could you not to mention the best part of the intro music from Vertigo with trills of strings & flutes with vibes that leads to that Tristan chord-ish passage & then that amazing resolve?
Suggestion for Part II or III: Herrmann's score from "Citizen Kane". All those contrabass instruments!
Hey Rick, I'm doing my best to consume all of your videos - they are awesome! I think I might have to start taking lessons with you in 2017. But I'm trying to watch all the videos first!
I heard that Bmajor7 >> Eminor progression as a major I to a minor iv chord. It was masterful how he used the F in the melody line to give it a Lydian flavor, but took you right to the minor third of that iv chord. I'm going to remember that as a principle! "Able to move between major I and minor iv chord using that #4/b5 in the melody."
Thank you so much!
Andrew Colyer
New York
Thanks Andrew!!
Bernard Herrmann acknowledged Delius as his favorite composer. (Delius' emanuesis Eric Fenby scored several of Hitcock's original films.) Delius composed Koanga decades before Porgie and Bess and Showboat. The theme for "Old Man River" can be found in Delius' "Appalachia". Members of the "Delius Society" included Bernard Herrmann, David Rose, Mel Torme, Duke Ellington, Nelson Riddle, and the list goes on. When are you going to do a segment on Delius?
Thank you so much Rick, can you please do a video on Danny Elfman. thank you
Oooh yes, I second that!
I third that!
Why? He already did Bernard Herrmann. 😜
@@KevinR1138 lol the truth
How about the great Jerry Goldsmith and his mixed meters?
I'm reading a book that labels the Psycho prelude chord as a Bb- maj7. F aug is included on that chord tho.
BH was a genius.
Hi Rick, fantastic serie of videos! I may be wrong but I think the higher notes here are obtained by bowing beyond ponticello.
The Murder Scene score is in 3/4 time! How'd you like to waltz to this!? :)_
During the prelude you said the melody is in B lydian , couldn't it be in E flat minor too ?
Thank you, very Interesting! At least The Psycho Prelude if not the whole psychscore is heavily influenced by Stravinsky‘s Rite of Spring i guess. Like Oscar Wild said: “Talent borrows. Genius Steals!”
what the art of melody and morricone?
PLS Rick ! could you analize the main theme from taxi driver ?
awesome, I love film and this is REALLY useful!
also, I loved your videos about Pat Metheny, if you could do some videos about Kurt Rosenwinkel's style and sound or other jazz guitarrist would be awesome :)
Greetings from chile
(sorry for this sh**ty grammar :c)
Vertigo starts @ 15:25
Where you hear a D flat, I hear a C natural.
To me, it goes like this : D-Bb-Gb-D downwards against Eb-Gb-Bb-C.upwards.
Which results in a whole step dissonance, instead of a half-step.
If I'm right, the chord would be Eb m M7 -- agreed -- with an added major 6th.
Would you do a video on R.D. Burman, an Indian Film Composer? I am very curious in studying Indian Film Scoring and these videos are an excellent source of information!
at minute 11.45 - I hear a key shift of 2 minor chords, the first being Eb minor and the second E minor (half-tone modulation) ...could it be?
Im pretty sure he wasn't thinking "ah a jazz line would work here" Just wondering when you improvise or compose- do you think - "ah a 7th major chord here is closely related to this minor and that one...doesn't sound connected but they really are! Im so sophisticated!" I doubt Herrmann composed in such a contrived manner. Mind its always interesting to analyze progressions.. Thanks for the videos
Molto Forzando e Feroce
during the prelude could you think of the BM7 going to Em as just a I-iv motion?
John Snyder I would think of the BM7 as a secondary dominant setup to the new key of Em
Hi Rick,
Really love the videos. Let me know if you want any of Bernard Herrmann's orchestral scores for the purposes of future videos, etc.
Hi Rick, in Vertigo, when the strings come out with the minor seventh on top I hear a middle C as a shadow, as if it was an open string played by mistake. Can you please explain that? It's just before the french horn, exactly on the high strings' D flat, perhaps due to harmonics (is that D flat really played by cellos?). Thank you, this is my first comment and I skip all the excitement (which I have!!!!! You are doing great and I don't miss any of your videos. Keep doing them. Greetings from Italy)
I will go back and listen. By the way, welcome!! Rick
Nice video. I know it's not from a movie but could you make a video about Kotaro Shigeo's soundtrack in Shinsekai Yori?
Which sample library is Mr Rick using on the keyboard?
Hi Rick, I was wondering what software you use on your computer as a DAW; it sounds fantastic and I would love to learn more.
Any chance you could do a video on other Golden Age composers like Steiner, Korngold, and (Alfred) Newman?
Did you figure this all out by ear? I know there are a few "bootleg" scores out there, taken from scans of his scores at the Library of Congress.
+Jason Enos - Art and Music How else would I figure it out?
+Rick Beato I wasn't aware at the time I did the video that there are scores out there.
There are a few places that sell piano reductions of excerpts. Sometimes, the first pages are viewable online, but there's nothing like the score in the composer's own hand.
I have a few scores (Vertigo, North by Northwest) I can assume are in Herrmann's own handwritten manuscripts, scanned from the originals in the Library on Congress. They have been interesting views into his compositional process (and even revalatory to copyist's errors that have crept up in recordings!).
Hey quick question rick ! why do we say C lydian and not G major ? do we gain something by using that terminology ? THANKS !
even though they are the same notes, it's all to do with which note (or 'tonic') the music is built around. Think of the tonic as a type of gravity that the rest of the music wants to get back to. With the modes this feeling is not as strong because we're all used to major and minor music and wanting to get back to the tonic in that (so in G major it sounds 'resolved' and rested when we get back to G). An easy way to hear the difference is go to a piano, bang out a low octave C, hold it, and experiment with the notes of C lydian. You'll hear that raised 4th(F#) gives a particular sound, often described as things like uplifting, magical, mysterious, 'fantasy' etc.
another great thing to do to hear the difference is play around in G major, then play around in G lydian and compare the difference..G lydian is just G major but with a raised 4th, so C# instead of C.
+Brett Rosenberg finally a good explanation (goog to me) !!! you rock!!!!!! thanks and have a good life!
Thanks for the video, Rick. Where are you getting the stems for these cues? :)
Haha! There are no stems. I'm just listening to it and figuring it out on the fly. You just have to listen closely.
Oh! What are we seeing behind you? It looks like your ProTools instance is loaded up with stems from these cues. Especially at 24:44, we can see all those track meters light up on playback.
Hm, perhaps it's just different cues on each track but only one of them is soloed?
Got me excited for a minute that there might be stems out there for these classics that are accessible for study. :)
Those are the stereo files of the pieces I'm playing. Where would you even get stems? It's an orchestra playing all at once. This is the 1950's!!! There are no stems of orchestral pieces. If you use synths like a lot of todays composers you can have PT sessions but not then. It was 3 mics to 1" Tape. DO some reading! Haha!!
There certainly are stems of orchestral pieces, and I even have some. One piece even engineered by Shawn Murphy. :)
I guess you could argue that recordings of single mics shouldn't be called stems (after all they're not stereo) but stem seems to have become the lingua franca.
It didn't seem *that* far fetched to me that even back then they could be recording many different mic positions to separate reels for later mixing, and that those could have since been digitized and circulated. Obviously acquiring such a thing would be some kind of holy grail.
But, yes, Occam's razor and all, it ought to have occurred to me first that those PT tracks were different cues and you just had one soloed.
anothercrappypianist I just listened to your mock up of Appalachian Spring. Very cool!
Nice job! Very envious you managed to pick that apart so effortlessly. It'll be great to get an analysis on Ennio Morricone's score for 'The Thing' - especially the particularly disturbing Shostakovich(ish) interweaving melody lines from 0:46 onwards: ua-cam.com/video/a9gywh6_EH4/v-deo.html
I will do one on Morricone for sure! You know my brain hurts when I listen hard to these pieces. It would be easier with the score but not as challenging :)
2:00 i thought those were knife in the chest strokes!
Hi Rick, can I ask what sounds/software are you using for your strings? Or just your sound library in general as all of your vids are quality sounds when using orchestral instruments
I have Albion I & II and LA Scoring strings
how about the brass sounds you used in "John Williams vs Gustav Holst or Star Wars Vs The Planets"?
I'm not much of a musician - I'm more of an appreciative listener - but this is fascinating.
23:20 The minor maj7 chord is not THAT common in jazz - of course, the mi6 chord is more often used as a minor i. And the use of the mi(maj7)in the line cliché is not similar to what is happening here in B Hermann's music. In the line cliché, the mi maj7 is a passing chord sound in the middle of basic contrapuntal movement. Whereas in Hermann, the mi ma7 and augmented sounds are "stand-alone" and held - (I don't know if to say "modally" would be the best way to describe it - in any case, it's definitely non-tonal). Chelsea Bridge and Nica's Dream(which Horace Silver used as his point of departure…) are the first modal usages of the min(maj7) chord that I'm aware in jazz. You probably had to use the 'line cliché' to introduce the chord for those who only have a popular music background as I'm not aware of any modal use of min (maj7) in Rock or Pop… (Steely Dan, Radiohead, Pink Floyd???) The only similar 'harmonically ambiguous ' use of augmented/min maj7 relationship in the jazz repertoire that I'm aware of is the beginning of the bridge to Mingus' "Fables Of Faubus" which alternates between Bbmi(maj7) and Gbmi(maj7): two mi(maj7) chords that share the same augmented superstructure triad (Db+). Yet with the 9th in the melody of the Bbmi(maj7) that affirms the melodic minor character of the maj(maj7)chord but then the arrival of the Gbmi(maj7) in the 3rd bar of the bridge simultaneously refers to the whole tone relationships implied by the augmented triad that is in common between the 2 chords. I would be interested to see how you would analyze this situation > certainly less complex harmonically than Hermann's 100% written music, but quite interesting all the same. (And perhaps easier for the majority of us to digest…) Sorry, for being so nit-picky!(…) But it's only because I found the video so fascinating! ! ! Thanks Rick for the wonderful explanations! ! ! And introducing me to a whole world that I barely knew about before today… Looking forward to having the time to watch more of your videos.
Rich….. 7:11 … you’re funny sometimes! lol