Was Bernard Herrmann the greatest film composer who ever lived? If such a claim could be supported, I’d say it’s quite possibly so. He’s not the first composer I turn to for purely musical enjoyment – I’m more of a Korngold/Rózsa/John Williams kind of guy – but has anyone more consistently found the perfect sound to support an on-screen image?

And Herrmann was never one to go for the low-hanging fruit. Take his score for “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951). Herrmann’s concept of extra-terrestrial music incorporates violin, cello, electric bass, two theremins, two Hammond organs, a large studio electric organ, three vibraphones, two glockenspiels, two pianos, two harps, three trumpets, three trombones and four tubas. Overdubbing and tape-reversal techniques were also employed. Now this guy was a composer!

His music for Alfred Hitchcock’s “Pyscho” (1960) was all strings; the brawny score to the mythological “Jason and the Argonauts” (1963) eschewed them. He could be wry (“The Devil and Daniel Webster”), romantic (“The Ghost and Mrs. Muir”), downbeat (“Taxi Driver”), or any combination of the three (“Citizen Kane”).

Unfortunately, my weekly film music show, “Picture Perfect,” will be preempted today since we still haven’t hit our goal of $70,000 for the end of our fiscal year, which will arrive, whether we like it or not, at midnight the morning of July 1. However, I am scheduled to be on the air earlier in the day today, albeit in the capacity of “wingman,” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I won’t be the one doing the programming, but you can be sure I will insinuate some Bernard Herrmann into the playlist on his birthday.

JUST IN: I’ll also be around in the 6:00 hour this evening, so you’ll hear a little more Herrmann then.

Please support us. There aren’t very many radio stations on which you’ll hear Bernard Herrmann’s music with regularity. Call now at 1-888-232-1212 or make a contribution online at wwfm.org. I wish I could bring you a full hour of Herrmann, but we need to make this goal! “Picture Perfect” will return next Friday at 6 p.m. In the meantime, thank you for supporting WWFM – The Classical Network.

Herrmann with Orson Welles (left) and Alfred Hitchcock