"The Murder" is a
cinematic score written and composed by
Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely r ...
for the
horror-
thriller film ''
Psycho'' (1960) directed by
Alfred Hitchcock. The score, its second movement in particular, is well recognized as one of the most famous scores in
film history
The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art, visual art form created using history of film technology, film technologies that began in the late 19th century.
The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. ...
. It scored for an original orchestra's string section.
''Psycho''s shower scene
The score was composed for the famous "shower scene", the murder of
Janet Leigh
Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...
's character,
Marion Crane
Marion Crane (known in the original novel as Mary Crane), also under the alias Marie Samuels, is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch in his 1959 thriller novel '' Psycho''. She is portrayed by Janet Leigh in the 1960 ...
. Hitchcock originally wanted the sequence (and all motel scenes) to play without music, but Herrmann insisted he try it with the cue he had composed. Afterward, Hitchcock agreed that it vastly intensified the scene, and he nearly doubled Herrmann's salary.
Movements
The score is divided into three main movements:
;1st Movement
The first movement of the score is made up of multiple runs, trills, and short, staccato stabs played agitato. While there is no direct melody, the fast-paced runs constantly switch around between the keys of F, F#, C#, and D, with a few sections played in G. A notable feature that Herrmann implemented is the use of alternating eighth-note semitones to create a sense of approaching and imminent danger.
John Williams made this technique famous 15 years later in his score for
Steven Spielberg's ''
Jaws
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** Mandible, the lower jaw
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker''
* ...
'' (1975). The movement ends with a high Bbm9 chord that crescendoes to an abrupt fermata cutoff.
;2nd Movement
The second movement is the most recognizable piece of the score: directly after the first movement's fermata, a lone first violin launches directly into a series of discordant, screechy
glissandos
In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a wikt:glide, glide from one pitch (music), pitch to another (). It is an Italianized Musical terminology, musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In ...
before being joined by the rest of the string section. This pattern is repeated twice, albeit the second set of glissandos is notated somewhat differently. The movements ends with another fermata.
;3rd Movement
The cello and contrabass start the third movement with long, low, drawn out dotted half-notes that are answered with minute, staccato stabs from the rest of the string section. The half-notes alternate between E and F 3 three times before going down to C.
References
External links
*
''Psycho'' and Herrmann's score
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murder
Compositions by Bernard Herrmann
1960 compositions
Psycho (franchise)
Compositions for string orchestra