He was irascible, outspoken, and, for those unaccustomed to his quirks, probably a trial to be around. Of course, he was also usually right. Was Bernard Herrmann America’s greatest film composer? When I listen for pleasure, his scores are not always the first that I turn to, but I can’t think of anyone else who so perfectly understood the most effective use of music in film.

This interview – conducted in a noisy cocktail lounge at New York’s Regency Hotel (home of Maxfield Parrish’s Old King Cole mural) – does a pretty good job of conveying the composer in all his ill-humored glory. Herrmann has no hesitation in telling us exactly what he thinks.

At least he has good things to say (after his fashion) about Copland and Korngold. A shame the “Citizen Kane” record with Orson Welles and Joan Sutherland never came to fruition. Also, the idea of a Ravel “Salome” is fascinating.

http://www.bernardherrmann.org/articles/an-interview-with-bernard-herrmann/

Happy birthday, Bernard Herrmann.

Herrmann records “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951)

“The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” (1947)

Duel with the skeleton from “The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad” (1958)

Opening credits to “Psycho” (1960)

Final scene of “Obsession” (1976)