Search - Music For The Movies: Bernard Herrmann on DVD

Excellent Bio

Tracy Hurzeler | Utah | 01/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great biography of the Composer/Conductor Bernard Herrmann. He was one of those inovators particularly in the Hollywood Film Music scene and you hear about him from many of his contemporaries. What a character he was. Herrmann's known chiefly as the composer of choice for Hitchcock in the 50's and early 60's, but he did much more, starting in radio, segueing into film while working on serval substansive pieces of concert music.



I was given the VHS as a gift years ago and now that it's out on DVD I will cherish this version as well.

"

Bernard Herrmann composer

Steve E. Rivkin | Alexandria, VA United States | 02/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you have an interest in Bernard Herrmann or composing music for movies, this is an excellent biography centered primarily on Herrmann's music and music career.



Thanks -Great nephew of Bernard Herrmann"

A treat for the movie music fan

K. Russell | United States | 06/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For years I've been wishing for a DVD edition of this irreplaceable documentary--one of the few VHS tapes I kept after I gave away most of my VHS collection. Now the DVD, recently ordered from Amazon, has arrived--and after playing it straight through once, I had to go to the chapter selections and watch my favorite parts again.



This 1992 documentary is a treat not only for Bernard Herrmann fans, but for all fans of movie music, because it shows so well how music works with movies. Interviews with directors, composers, musicians, editors, sound mixers, and film scholars, as well as with Herrmann himself and his first wife, shed light on music itself and its relationship to movies, while also illuminating Herrmann's contribution.



Of course, the soundtrack of this documentary is full of Herrmann's music, sometimes serving as background, sometimes accompanying the film clips from ten of the numerous movies Herrmann scored--including the first, CITIZEN KANE, and the last, TAXI DRIVER. The documentary also offers a biographical sketch of Herrmann, and serves as a fine complement to the written biography by Steven C. Smith.



Personally, I can never tire of watching composer Elmer Bernstein and film scholar Royal S. Brown play piano transcriptions of familiar passages from CAPE FEAR, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, VERTIGO, and PSYCHO, explaining why these passages haunt us long after we've seen the movies."