An Analysis of the Musical Aspects and Functions

By Richard Robertson In 1960 two creative talents combined and crafted a masterpiece horror film. The film, of course was Psycho and the talents were director, Alfred Hitchcock and the score composer, Bernard Herrmann. This collaboration was extremely effective and it had first begun when they worked together on Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry in 1955. Hitchcock's imaginative and ingenious style in directing and Herrmann's chilling music makes this film, a classic film. My analysis of Herrmann's …

…Macmillan International, 1994. Lack, Russell, Twenty-Four Frames Under: A buried History of Film Music. London: Quartet Books limited, 1997. Palmer, Christopher, The Composer In Hollywood. New York: Marion Boyars Publishers, 1990. Prendergast, Roy M, Film Music: A Neglected Art (second Ed.). W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1992. Zador, Lesilie, 'Movie Music's Man of the Moment', Coast FM & Fine Arts, June 1971, p31. Primary Text Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock, staring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh. Music composed by Bernard Herrmann, 1960.