2023-08-04 07:45:39
On August 18, on the occasion of the 4th edition of its festivalthe Orchester de la Suisse Romande will take over the Geneva-Plage lawn for a cinema evening dedicated to Vertigo d’Alfred Hitchcock.
Le style hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) is recognized for his particular cinematic style, which combines elements of suspense, tension and psychological intrigue. His ability to capture audiences’ attention on an emotional level and keep them engaged throughout his films is remarkable. Hitchcock’s meticulous attention to detail, clever storytelling techniques and innovative camera work have distinguished him as one of the greatest directors of all time.
A masterpiece of the seventh art
Released in 1958, Vertigo (Cold Sweats) is a psychological thriller that is characterized by its technical innovations, captivating storytelling, character development, and stunning visual presentation. Despite a mixed success when it was released, it is now considered one of Hitchcock’s most accomplished works and one of the best films in the history of cinema.
Vertigo tackles themes of love, desire and the fine line between reality and illusion through the story of John “Scottie” Ferguson (James Stewart), a detective suffering from vertigo who finds himself in a maze of mystery and obsession when he is hired to follow a woman named Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak).
The film explores the characters’ psychological complexities and uses visual storytelling to convey their inner torment. The expert direction of Alfred Hitchcock and the excellent performance of the actors give the film an intense emotional depth. The employment of subjective cameraas well as the haunting musical score of the legendary Bernard Herrmann, accentuate the feeling of vertigo and acrophobia of the character.
Hitchcock’s cameo
One of the hallmarks of Hitchcock’s films are his cameos, that is, his brief appearances in his own productions. These cameos are fun things for audiences to spot and add a personal touch to his movies. In Vertigoregarding 10 minutes into the film, Hitchcock can be seen from the back, wearing a gray suit, walking past a building.
Bernard Herrmann : De Citizen Kane To Taxi Driver
For four decades, Bernard Herrmann revolutionized film music by imposing his own harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary. Instead of lush melodies, he composed short quirky, even experimental figures, obsessively repeated and fitting beautifully with the style of the screen images.
After having written scores for the radio programs of Orson Welles, including the famous adaptation of The War of the Worlds (The War of the Worlds) of 1938, Bernard Herrmann continued his collaboration with the filmmaker on his first two films, Citizen Kane (1941) et The Magnificent Ambersons (1942).
He collaborates with William Dieterle on The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), for which he won the Oscar, and on Portrait of Jennie (1949), which gave him the opportunity to explore the sounds of thérémine. He also contributes to the soundtrack of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and that of The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) by Robert Wise, which allows him to approach a more advanced sound experimentation with two theremins, pianos and a brass section.
Herrmann then composed the music for a series of fantasy and science fiction films. Among these, Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) and the films of the master of animation stop-motion Ray Harryhausen : The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960), Mysterious Island (1961) et Jason and the Argonauts (1963).
He wrote one of his finest compositions for Fahrenheit 451 (1966) by François Truffaut, for whom he also composed the music for The bride was in black (1968). In the early 1970s, the generation of ” New Hollywood is interested in the work of the composer. Brian De Palma asked him to write the music for Sisters (1973) andObsession (1976). He signs his last score, singular and inspired, for Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese (1976). He died on the evening of the last day of recording.
Collaboration with Hitchcock
Bernard Herrmann’s name is closely associated with that of Alfred Hitchcock, for whom he wrote nine scores and produced some of his most memorable works. The relationship between director and composer was unique and productive, with Hitchcock allowing Herrmann great creative freedom to develop the soundscapes of his films.
Avant Vertigothe two men had collaborated on The Trouble With Harry (1955), The Wrong Man (1956) et The Man Who Knew too Much (1956). Subsequently, they would work together on the classics North By Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960) et Marnie (1963). Herrmann abruptly ends his partnership with Hitchcock when the latter, on the advice of Universal Studios who wanted music more influenced by jazz and pop, rejects his score for Torn Curtain (1966).
The soundtrack of Vertigo
If Herrmann’s first three scores for Hitchcock are far from being the most significant of his career, on the other hand Vertigo definitely marks the beginning of the collaboration between the composer and the filmmaker. Hitchcock, having finally taken the measure of the emotional load that Herrmann might inject into his films, leaves the latter a large margin to express his creativity.
The plot of Vertigo ignites Herrmann’s imagination and gives free rein to his lyricism because it fully corresponds to his romantic sensibility. The film’s music is a testament to his skill as a composer and his ability to enhance storytelling through music.
Herrmann has always personally conducted his own works, but due to a strike by musicians in the United States, the music of Vertigo was recorded in England and Austria by the orchestra Sinfonia of London, edited by Muir Mathieson. Herrmann, who considered this composition one of his best, deeply regretted not being able to conduct it.
Fusion between images and music
Both a cinematic and musical masterpiece, the film weaves a suffocating atmosphere that results as much from the lighting and filters used by Hitchcock as from Herrmann’s score. The images are exacerbated by the music and the music by the images.
Herrmann employs a series of innovative techniques to heighten the tension and weight the atmosphere of Vertigo. The lush orchestration, mixing strings, woodwinds and brass, creates a rich and immersive sound, supported by the incorporation of the theremin whose effect of strangeness and worry fits perfectly with the narration.
From the start of the film, the music spins along with the hypnotic spirals of Saul Bass superimposed on Kim Novak’s eyes: circles of endless major and minor thirds, interspersed with quivering dissonances. Marrying the narration, the music is literally dizzying: it spirals and never finds an acceptable resolution, never the appeasement of an end.
The main theme of the score, haunting, dreamlike and mysterious, captures the very essence of psychological drama. Throughout the film, the composer skilfully plays with this theme and its variations. He aligns, layers, readjusts and interweaves them with an intense emotional fury that heightens the impact of decisive scenes and draws the audience deep into the characters’ psyches.
The sinister two-note pattern that mimics the fog horns of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge draws a direct connection to the film, in which the horns can be distinctly heard sounding at Fort Point, the scene of a pivotal incident involving the character of Kim Novak.
On the iconic Mission San Juan Bautista stage, Herrmann’s score reaches its climax, reinforcing themes of obsession and emotional turmoil.
The music of Vertigo considerably enriches the images it accompanies, but even without it the score retains all its force. It has found a life outside the film, which can be heard as such, if not as a coherent narrative, then at least as a succession of spellbinding fragments.
A defining achievement in the history of film music
Bernard Hermann’s work on Vertigo has profoundly influenced film composers for decades. The innovative use of music as a psychological tool paved the way for the integration of music as a narrative element. Many contemporary composers cite the score of Vertigo as a source of inspiration.
Critically acclaimed upon the film’s release, Herrmann’s music was not nominated for an Oscar. Nevertheless, it remains one of the most famous film scores in the history of cinema.
Further reading:
The Mysterious Goat
The Mysterious Goat
Hermeto Pascoal: Ella Fitzgerald Stage, July 5th
Hermeto Pascoal: Stage Ella Fitzgerald, July 5
Plácido Domingo at Victoria Hall: June 13
the odyssey of the giles
Photo credit : Emmanuel Doffou
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