I Bought Me a Cat
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I Bought a Cat My Purrfect Adoption Story
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Herrmann’s Hitchcock Untold Scores
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5 responses
In the mid-1950s, composer Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock came together for a string of commercial, critical and artistic successes, including, most notably, “Vertigo,” “North by Northwest” and “Psycho.” But the two collaborated on no less than nine films, if we count “The Birds,” on which Herrmann acted as sound consultant.
This week, on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll have selections from the other five – among them, “Marnie,” “The Trouble with Harry” and “The Wrong Man.”
Herrmann’s reworking of Arthur Benjamin’s “The Storm Clouds Cantata” was used at the climax of the 1956 version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” as a frantic James Stewart attempts to thwart an assassination plot at Royal Alert Hall. (In the film, Herrmann himself appears on the podium.)
We’ll also hear a portion of the rejected score for “Torn Curtain,” the project that ended the Herrmann-Hitchcock association. Hitchcock fired Herrmann, when the composer ignored his instructions to write something light and popular, under studio pressure. John Addison was hired as his replacement, and the film was a failure at the box office.
In recent years, Herrmann admirers have had several opportunities to sample the composer’s original thoughts. Quentin Tarantino is obviously a fan. Some of Herrmann’s “Torn Curtain” music turns up in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
Hitch yourself to Bernard Herrmann. It’s lesser-heard Herrmann-Hitchcock, this Friday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
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Double Your Impact Support Classical Music Now!
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It’s an afternoon of thrills and suspense!
I hope you’ll join us on The Classical Network, as David Osenberg and I sprint to meet another member challenge – today in the amount of $2000.
If we reach $2000 in listener donations, BEFORE 6:00 EST, we’ll get to tally in an ADDITIONAL $2000 toward our fall fundraiser. In other words, that’s a TOTAL OF $4000. Anything you contribute toward the $2000 is DOUBLED. $40 becomes $80… $50 becomes $100… You know the drill.
To get in on the action and really make a difference, please call us before 6 p.m. at 1-888-232-1212, or join us online at wwfm.org.
We’re chipping away at this campaign, and by the end of this afternoon, if we’re successful, we should be in position to wrap things up on Monday morning.
Don’t forget, for a contribution of $200, you can pick up an invitation to our Gathering of Gratitude Gala, which will be held at the Mercer County Community College Conference Center, on the West Windsor campus, next Friday (St. Cecilia’s Day), from 6 to 9 p.m. That invitation is good for you and a guest. There will be food, there will be drink, there will be scintillating conversation with our hosts. And there will be music, lots of music.
Our hope is to always be able to bring you plenty of music, but it’s only possible with the support of our generous listeners. When’s the last time you’ve contributed? Has it been a while? Why not toss us a few bucks? Your bones are doubled.
Once we’ve met this challenge (hopefully), we’ll all be able to kick back and enjoy music by Bernard Herrmann composed for the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, on this week’s “Picture Perfect.”
The Herrmann-Hitch partnership, of course, yielded such classics as “Vertigo,” “North by Northwest” and “Psycho.” We won’t be hearing any of those. Instead, we’ll have less frequently-heard music written for some of their other collaborations – “Marnie,” “The Trouble with Harry,” “The Wrong Man,” “Torn Curtain” and “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”
The suspense is killing us! Help us meet this goal! Call us now at 1-888-232-1212, or contribute online (before 6 p.m., please!) at wwfm.org.
Thank you for your support of WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org!!
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Rediscovering Copland’s Genius
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I am so happy to rediscover this 30-minute documentary on Aaron Copland. I remember watching it years ago. What an exciting time for American music – and for America – to say nothing of the arts in general. Not that American music does not remain vital. But Copland seems to be the last man standing, in terms of the active repertoire, of that great generation. To catch a Roy Harris or a William Schuman symphony in concert is very rare indeed.
It is the fate of even the greatest composers to be remembered through but a handful of pieces, usually from a particular phase of his or her career. In Copland’s case, it’s pretty much the cowboy music. Some people love it; some are put off by it. Cowboys aren’t exactly “in” right now, and when someone hears “I Ride an Old Paint,” they may not trouble themselves to look beyond the trappings.
But nearly everything Copland wrote is worth hearing – and I’ve heard most of it – even the misfires. Once you get to know him, his sound is immediately identifiable in anything he touched. He had vision, he had craft, and he had integrity.
I love this man, and I love his music, and I love what he did for music. Would that we had someone of his caliber today. Happy birthday, Aaron Copland.
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Aaron Copland Documentary Rediscovered
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I am so happy to rediscover this 30-minute documentary on Aaron Copland. I remember watching it years ago. What an exciting time for American music – and for America – to say nothing of the arts in general. Not that American music does not remain vital. But Copland seems to be the last man standing, in terms of the active repertoire, of that great generation. To catch a Roy Harris or a William Schuman symphony in concert is very rare indeed.
It is the fate of even the greatest composers to be remembered through but a handful of pieces, usually from a particular phase of his or her career. In Copland’s case, it’s pretty much the cowboy music. Some people love it; some are put off by it. Cowboys aren’t exactly “in” right now, and when someone hears “I Ride an Old Paint,” they may not trouble themselves to look beyond the trappings. But nearly everything Copland wrote is worth hearing – and I’ve heard most of it – even the misfires. Once you get to know him, his sound is immediately identifiable in anything he touched. He had vision, he had craft, and he had integrity.
I love this man, and I love his music, and I love what he did for music. Would that we had someone of his caliber today. Happy birthday, Aaron Copland.
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