Bernard Herrmann

He studied at Juilliard and worked in CBS radio, where he met Orson Welles and conducted the music for the 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast. His first film score was Citizen Kane. He broke with Hitchcock in 1966, when the director rejected his music for Torn Curtain.

Style

Short cells that repeat and obsess rather than big tunes, with unconventional orchestration.

Awards

One Oscar, for The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941).

Essential films

• Citizen Kane (1941)
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
• Vertigo (1958)
• North by Northwest (1959)
• Psycho (1960)
• Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
• Taxi Driver (1976)

Listen

• Vertigo Scène d'amour · VertigoSpotifyYouTube
• Psycho Prelude · PsychoSpotifyYouTube
• Taxi Driver Theme · Taxi DriverSpotifyYouTube

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