Herrmann: Psycho

Question 1

When was Herrmann alive?

Answer 1

1911-75
20-21st century

Question 2

How was Herrmann’s music often characterised?

Answer 2

Colouristic affects
Ostinato patterns
Unstable chords
Very short musical gestures (to evoke a situation or psychological state)

Question 3

As psycho was low budget and black and white, what did he do?

Answer 3

Wrote a ‘black and white score’ for strings only

Question 4

What sort of effects and techniques did Herrmann use for the strings?

Answer 4

Pizzicato
Glissandi
Mostly muted (con sordini)

Question 5

Wha this the overall sound of psycho?

Answer 5

Dark
Intense
Suspenseful
Terrifying atmosphere

Question 6

What is used throughout psycho?

Answer 6

Motifs

Question 7

Why are the motives manipulated?

Answer 7

To match action and mood of a scene

Question 8

How are the motives manipulated?

Answer 8

Changing rhythm
Pitch
Instrumentation
Accompaniment

Adding new material
Developing fragments of the idea

Question 9

How are ‘Murder’ and ‘Prelude’ scored?

Answer 9

For full score
Each instrument has own stave
Highest to lowest

Question 10

How are all other cues scored?

Answer 10

In short score
Often more than one instrument on each stave

Question 11

When is the Prelude first heard?

Answer 11

When it accompanied the title sequence

Question 12

During the title sequence, what does Prelude do?

Answer 12

Introduces several ideas and motifs heard throughout the film

Question 13

Describe the harmony of Prelude

Answer 13

Chromatic
Ava odia a tonal centre

Question 14

How does the music of Prelude open?

Answer 14

Ambiguous minor-major chord
Becomes important feature of subsequent music

Question 15

What are the opening chords of Prelude followed by?

Answer 15

Series of rising semitone figures
Become significant in later transformations

Question 16

How are the stabbing rhythms played in Prelude and throughout?
Why are the stabbing rhythms used?

Answer 16

Lower strings
Forbidding, add tension

Question 17

When does ‘The Psycho Theme’ enter in Prelude?
Describe the theme

Answer 17

Bar 37
Ghostly 12-bar theme

Question 18

How does the psycho theme appear throughout the film?

Answer 18

In a variety of transformations

Question 19

When is ‘The City’ introduced?
What is the first scene?

Answer 19

The first scene
Camera panning across urban skyline of Phoenix, Arizona.
Shot closes in on hotel room where lovers Marion and Sam have met in secret

Question 20

What is the mood of The City?
How is the mood of The City created?

Answer 20

Lazy, sultry afternoon

Slow tempo
Harmonic rhythm

Question 21

Wha this the music for Marion based on?

Answer 21

A descending sequential three-note pattern
Notice the descending semitone figure in the lower strings

Question 22

What happens in The Murder?
What was originally planned for the music in this scene?

Answer 22

Famous shower scene where Marion is stabbed to death
For no music to be included

Question 23

What do different about The Murder compared to the other pieces of music?

Answer 23

Marked molto forzando e feroce
=> only cue where strings don’t play with mutes

Question 24

How sir he stabbing rhythm characterised in The Murder?

Answer 24

Shrieking high strings
Augmented octaves
Harsh down bows

Question 25

The second section of The Murder is a repeat of the first. How if it different?

Answer 25

Added glissandi Followed by a dark coda where Marion falls dead

Question 26

What does the coda in The Murder make use of?

Answer 26

The tritone; dissonant interval

Question 27

Why is The Toys called that?

Answer 27

Marion’s sister, Lila finds ‘The Toys’ in Norman Bates’ room

Question 28

How is part of the ‘The Psycho Theme’ played in The Toys?

Answer 28

Upper strings Augmented version

Question 29

As Lila rushed to ‘The Cellar’, what is she musically accompanied by

Answer 29

Tremolo muted strings (Notice use of rising semitone motive)

Question 30

In Discovery, as the skeleton turns around what si it musically depicted by? When?

Answer 30

Descending chromatic scales Bars 25-35

Question 31

How are the descending chromatic scales in Discovery related to The Psycho Theme?

Answer 31

Highest note of each scale outlines first 5 notes (transposed) of Psycho theme

Question 32

What two rhythmic devices are included in Discovery? When?

Answer 32

Polyrhythm (bars 19-24) Metric modulation (bar 26)

Question 33

What happens in the Finale?

Answer 33

Norman Bates seen sitting calmly in a white cell Camera close-up of his face Momentary superimposition of mothers face on his

Question 34

How does the score end in Finale?

Answer 34

Low, dissonant chord, unresolved