Listening To Music In Film

Film: Psycho
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Composer: Bernard Hermann
Scored For: String Ensemble


There is variety in the way the string ensemble creates various effects and moods within the film. The opening "prelude" is a quick piece that uses some recurrent melodic ideas, such as the repeated accented notes at the start, and the triplet pattern played frequently by the violins and occasionally violas. This piece is very effective at portraying a sense of urgency, anxiety and panic. Even at the opening credits where nothing has actually happened yet, the music puts you into a state of mind that is a precursor for things to come.

This main theme is reintroduced at other points during the film. A particularly effective part is when Marion has stolen the money and is escaping in her car, where she is spotted by her employer who is crossing the street. Marion is doing her best to act like nothing is out of the ordinary, but the prelude music returns, which shows that even though her face is fairly impassive, her mind is in turmoil as she thinks she might be caught.

The most well-known part of the score is the "murder" theme. This music first appears when Marion is murdered whilst taking a shower. Only the sound of running water can be heard at first, but when the killer appears and whips back the shower curtain, the music immediately begins. Hermann uses violins in a very high register, in short sharp bursts which imitates what is unfolding on-screen; a stabbing knife.

We are acquainted with this theme again later, when the private detective is killed. This time the music has a slightly faster tempo. This gives me the impression that the killer in the first murder was more calm and methodical as it was a premeditated action. The second time though, the detective sneaked into the house, and thus the killer was taken by surprise. This murder was more frenzied, as indicated by the faster tempo of the murder theme.

There are leitmotif's that I would associate with the character of Norman Bates. A particular one is in the parlor scene when Marion puts across the idea of Norman's mother being placed in an institution. Norman is severely offended by this idea, and the score drastically changes to reflect his darkening mood, utilizing a foreboding three-note motif which is exchanged at different pitches between various instruments.

Overall, the score to "Psycho" is very adept at portraying the unspoken mood and feeling at any particular moment in time. It frequently changes between fast paced and frenzied, and somber and mysterious, with large portions of silence in between where only speech and environmental sounds can be heard. When the musical score breaks the silence, it's intent is to shock the viewer, or to create a feeling of unease. The score often mimics the thought process or actions of the characters on screen, reinforcing what the director is attempting to portray.

Psycho image by Universal Pictures (cloudfront.net) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons