NTRO
‘When I first heard it, I realised what he’d done. He’d taken everybody’s guts and used them for music’ – Joseph Stefano (Sullivan 2006).
Psycho is a film by the so-known master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock. It is a psychological thriller that is thought to be the origin of modern suspense films. The screenplay, written by Joseph Stefano, is an adaptation of Robert Bloch’s book by the same name (Filmsite, n.d). Psycho was Hitchcock’s biggest hit, a groundbreaking movie that combined graphic violence and provocative sexual explicitness, not very common in cinema up to that point (Robb, 2010).
The film was released in 1960 and featured actors such as Vera Miles, Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins and John Gavin (BFI, 2016). The soundtrack was written by Bernard Herrmann, considered one of the greatest composers of all time. Born in New York in 1911, he also wrote the music for many other films and radio broadcasts such as Orson Welles’ ‘War of the worlds’ and the classic Citizen Kane (BBC, 2016).
The plot beings when Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) steals a substantial amount of money to solver hers and her boyfriend Sam’s financial problems. In her escape, she stops at the Bates Motel, where she finds out about the owner’s mentally ill mother and is stabbed to death in the shower. When he finds out, the owner, Normal Bates, dumps the corpse and her car in a swamp. Lila (Vera Miles), Marion’s sister and a private investigator, look into Marion’s disappearance. Arbogast, the investigator, tries to speak to Bates’ mother, but in his attempt is also brutally murdered. After this Lila and Sam find out that Mrs. Bates has been dead for ten years and decide to go to the motel to find out what happened. Finally they encounter that Bates’ mother is a mummified corpse and Norman tries to kill Lila dressed in his mother’s clothes, but is luckily stopped by Sam. It is finally explained that Norman had killed his mother and her lover out of jealousy, but the guilt had overtaken him so he treated the corpse as if it were still alive and his mother’s personality overtook his mind (Psycho, 1960).
Psycho is undoubtedly one of the most famous film scores of all time. However, it was close to never having existed, as Hitchcock didn’t want any music in the shower scene, which has become its most iconic. When asked what the score for Psycho meant to him, Bernard Herrmann replied terror, a term that perfectly describes the effect the music has on the audience (Sullivan, 2006). The composer once said “Hitchcock only finishes a picture 60%. I have to finish it for him.” (Kolker, 2004).
ORCHESTRATION AND COMPARISON
The score for the movie is solely formed by strings. This was due to the low budget the film had as well as the aim of the composer to complement the black and white photography with a ‘black and white score’ (Smith, 2002). This was taken as a contradiction at the time, as string scores were commonly associated with romanticism. Having said that, Psycho’s score is unsettling and disturbing and enhances the film’s darkness (Sullivan, 2006). It is also said that some of the parts that made the score were taken from the composer’s ‘Sinfonetta’ written over 25 years before Psycho’s release (Wrobel, 2002).
This form of orchestration broke with all conventions and detached itself from the usual forms of horror film compositions and the effects used, such as cymbal rolls, timpani throbs, muted horn strings, shrieking clarinets, ominous trombones and many others (Smith, 2002). This contrasted dramatically with scores from other horror films released in 1960 like The Brides of Dracula (Fisher, 1960) and Peeping Tom (Powell, 1960).
Despite being considered one of the best film scores of all time, it was never nominated for an Academy Award, this was because the movie scores in the 1960s were turning into pop, jazz and rock music (Siegel, 2000).
HARMONY AND MELODY
Psycho is probably Herrmann’s most atonal score. It is formed by different themes or motifs that are repeated throughout the movie and are linked to specific situations or characters (Husarik, 2007). To communicate the creepiness of the film, the composer makes use of a contrapuntal feel, as well as very dissonant tonal chords such as diminished triads, diminished sevenths, minor-major sevenths and half-diminished sevenths (Wrobel, 2002).
The opening scene starts with the cue known as Prelude, which is triggered by a disturbing minor-major chord, commonly known as ‘The Hitchcock Chord’. In this part we can distinguish the combination of motifs that come together for the cue. These are separated into diverse parts that represent Norman, Marion and Mrs. Bates. A clear example of this is the part noted as ‘The Psycho Theme’ in the score sheets. Harmonically, this part starts on the tonic of E flat, passing over the E flat diatonic scale, en moving half a step down to E minor and repeating the sequence, culminating with ‘The Hitchcock Chord’. This and other motifs such as the ‘sigh motifs’ in the opening theme are repeated throughout the film creating expectation in the audience (Husarik, 2007).
The music in the next scene contrasts in pace with the aggressive introduction. The ‘This City’ cue combines diminished and half-diminished chords, and the ‘sigh theme’ presented in the ‘Psycho Theme’ is brought back in. This piece of music is reintroduced with slight variations throughout the film whenever there is a dreamy but tragic event approaching (Husarik, 2007).
Another motif that can be associated to a specific character is the three note theme that makes its appearance in the cue named ‘The Madhouse’, which is commonly linked to the mother (Husarik, 2007). This cue was inspired by a previously written piece of Herrmann’s, ‘Sinfonietta’ (Sullivan, 2006).
Although there are many notorious parts in Psycho’s score, it is the music that accompanies the murder scene that has become its most known and all-time aural cliche (Robb, 2010). The cue is composed by a combination of references to Norman’s ‘Psycho Theme’ where the stream of atonal chords culminates in the ‘sigh motif’ (Husarik, 2007). This technique has taken the name of slasher music. The image and the music come together so perfectly that the glissandos seem to be the knife stabbing Marion. This creates an effect of terror in the viewers (Sullivan, 2006). It is in this scene that we also find harmonic elements previously introduced in ‘The Psycho Theme’ (Husarik, 2007). The theme is reintroduced with each attempt of murder.
Another technique frequently used by Herrmann in Psycho’s soundtrack is chord cascading. This is heard in numerous scenes, such as Lila approaching to the Bates’ house, the introducing scene of the city, etc. (Husarik, 2007).
In the final scene, Norman tries to kill Lila, and the ‘Murder’ cue is brought back into the spotlight. However, as he is stopped by Sam, the music shifts to an inverted two note theme from the beginning of the film, which represents the end of Norman (Husarik, 2007).
The film terminates with Marion’s car being pulled out of the swamp, with the score culminating in a D/Ab/Cb/Eb chord (Wrobel, 2002).
DYNAMICS AND PITCH
Despite the limitations that composing the whole score for strings presented, Herrmann utilised the instruments in an outstanding way that makes the most of their potential. He combines textures, sounds and dynamics, both percussive and melodic. To achieve this, the composer made the strings very dry and inserted percussive effects such as muted strings, pizzicato and staccato (Siegel, 2000).
Other effects used, such as glissandos and harmonics intensify the sense of danger, suspicion and horror (Sullivan, 2006).
Herrmann also plays with the wide pitch range of strings, moving from very high pitched parts to low and mysterious lines adding to the intensity and tone of the scenes.
Although Herrmann’s soundtrack makes Psycho what it is today, it is also important to note the essential role that silence plays. Initially Hitchcock didn’t want any music whatsoever in the film (Siegel, 2000). It is the dreaded silence suddenly broken by the music what creates a contrast that accentuates its dramatic quality. It is also notable that there is no external music or diegetic music (e.g. A radio playing) to rationalise the presence of music in the film (Brown, 1994).
In conclusion, Psycho’s soundtrack is an astounding piece of work that broke all the composition boundaries known until then by combining an orchestration formed only by strings with dissonant harmonies, diminished chords and percussive sounds that add to the terror instigated by a film with a twisted plot. A psychological thriller different to anything seen up that point in time. Herrmann’s work has been recognised worldwide and has been a clear influence for later scores such as Jaws (Robb, 2010), and even popular music pieces such as The Beatle’s Eleanor Rigby, for which the band asked their producer Sir George Martin to create a strong part based on Pyscho’s music (Martin and Hornsby, 1979).