His music continues to be used in films and recordings after his death. “Georgie’s Theme” from Herrmann’s score for the 1968 film Twisted Nerve is whistled by one-eyed nurse Elle Driver in the hospital corridor scene in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003). The opening theme from Vertigo was used in the prologue to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” video, and during a flashback sequence in the pilot episode of FX’s American Horror Story, which also featured “Georgie’s Theme” in later episodes as a recurring musical motif for the character of Tate. Fellow film composer Danny Elfman adapted Herrmann’s music for Psycho for use in director Gus Van Sant’s 1998 remake and borrowed from Herrmann’s “Mountaintop/Sunrise” theme, from Journey to the Center of the Earth, for his main Batman theme. On their 1977 album Ra, American progressive rock group Utopia also adapted “Mountaintop/Sunrise,” in a rock arrangement, as the introduction to the album’s opening song, “Communion With The Sun.” And most recently, Ludovic Bource used the love theme from Vertigo literally in the last reels of 2011’s The Artist.

Psycho (1960) – ‘The Bathroom’, ‘The Murder’. Few scenes have music as famous as this one. Bernard Herrmann ignored Hitchcock’s suggestion to leave this scene without music, and the result is a jarring piece that even people who’ve never watched the film can recognise. Everything about this scene works wonderfully, but the music is the cherry on the cake.



Select Payment Method
Personal Info

Credit Card Info
This is a secure SSL encrypted payment.

Donation Total: €10,00

Liked it? Take a second to support historyofculture on Patreon!
Become a patron at Patreon!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *