Bernard Herrmann - ProfilesArchive

About Me

The man whose name is for many synonymous with film music was born prematurely to Abraham and Ida Herrmann on June 29 1911. Abraham, an optometrist, came from an intellectual family, while Ida was highly religious; the family’s handsome brownstone was the scene of frequent arguments. At the age of five Herrmann began to suffer from Sydenham’s syndrome, a neurological disorder that can affect personality development. A calm environment is needed for recovery, but Herrmann did not enjoy one. He grew up to be a nervous and aggressively touchy person who tended to alienate friends and associates.

There is much more to be known about the great man. Click here to swot up on this often overlooked master.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 8/31/2006
Band Website: bernardherrmann.org
Influences: .."In California, they like to pigeonhole you. From the time I began working for Hitchcock, they decided I was a big suspense man. On other occasions, I've had fantasies of bittersweet romantic stories. I think I'd enjoy writing a good comedy score, but I've never had the luck to be offered such films. Mancini gets the cheerful ones".

"It is almost impossible to make a movie without music. Movies need the cement of music. I've never seen a movie better without it. Music is just as important as the photography".

Bernard Herrmann

"Benny would have been delighted, though perhaps not surprised, at the growing amount of attention attracted by his music in recent years. There has been interest from a whole new generation who were not even born during his lifetime".

Norma Herrmann - February 2006

"Bernard Herrmann deserved to be taken as seriously as any other 20th century composer. And yet throughout his life he was tormented with the reality that he was sidelined and ignored in the very circles where he most sought recognition - the classical elite. This made him sad, resentful and paranoid, fuelling the many professional bust ups that were to cost his career dearly".

Howard Goodall , "20th Century Greats" TV documentary, 2004

Type of Label: None

My Blog

See Benny in the flesh, so to speak

You can see Benny conducting in Hitchcock's 1956 film 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'. It's arguably the closest we'll get to seeing him doing what he did well.You can see the clip below or click HERE to ...
Posted by Bernard Herrmann on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 04:30:00 PST

More Herrmann pictures

For your enjoyment, more Benny-related pictures have been posted up in the Photos section. If anyone has more to add, please forward them and we'll put them up....
Posted by Bernard Herrmann on Mon, 03 Dec 2007 05:19:00 PST

Spam comments. Would Benny approve?

Having just cleaned out over 15 spam messages, with just 1 genuine comment about Benny to post up, could people please be careful about their profiles being used by spammers? Future spam messages will...
Posted by Bernard Herrmann on Wed, 17 Oct 2007 04:28:00 PST

Herrmann’s popularity

On doing another web search, it's wonderful to find an increasing amount of media and texts about Benny. It seems people are really beginning to wake up to the importance of his work. A quick YouTube ...
Posted by Bernard Herrmann on Sun, 02 Sep 2007 04:50:00 PST

Stromberg/MSO rehearsal footage

Here are some clips featuring the Stromberg/MSO rehearsing Bernard Herrmann's Mysterious Island in May 2007.For forum postings and comments on the recording project, visit this link.New recordings soo...
Posted by Bernard Herrmann on Tue, 22 May 2007 01:24:00 PST

To all new friends - welcome

It's a joy to see so many people finding Benny on MySpace. My apologies if I can't respond to every message sent and touch base with every new friend, but it's a little too demanding to do so - althou...
Posted by Bernard Herrmann on Mon, 09 Apr 2007 04:07:00 PST

Share your observations

Having just seen on British TV a documentary about Conrad Black (will post the show if it goes online), which compared the magnate to Citizen Kane and used many excerpts from the Citizen Kane score, I...
Posted by Bernard Herrmann on Wed, 14 Mar 2007 05:25:00 PST

Documentary about Herrmann - online

Howard Goodall's "20th Century Greats" episode about Benny is now online. A sample clip has been posted on the main page, but for more visit YouTube and type in 'Bernard Herrmann' for the whole show....
Posted by Bernard Herrmann on Sun, 18 Feb 2007 05:36:00 PST

Herrmann and Hitchcock - article and book

Here's a Guardian review of Jack Sullivan's book 'Hitchcock's Music', which covers a lot about Herrmann's relationship with Hitchcock. I love this comment: 'It is a lovely, humanising detail to learn ...
Posted by Bernard Herrmann on Wed, 24 Jan 2007 08:42:00 PST

The scoring of 'Psycho'

Here's an interesting little article on the scoring of 'Psycho'.Herrmann caused a stir when he decided to score for the strings section only - which appears to have been key to the music's inventivene...
Posted by Bernard Herrmann on Tue, 28 Nov 2006 05:29:00 PST