Hitchcock's Music

Hitchcock's Music
Author: Jack Sullivan
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2006-12-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0300134665

"A wonderfully coherent, comprehensive, groundbreaking, and thoroughly engaging study” of how the director of Psycho and The Birds used music in his films (Sidney Gottlieb, editor of Hitchcock on Hitchcock). Alfred Hitchcock employed more musical styles and techniques than any film director in history, from Marlene Dietrich singing Cole Porter in Stage Fright to the revolutionary electronic soundtrack of The Birds. Many of his films—including Notorious, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho—are landmarks in the history of film music. Now author and musicologist Jack Sullivan presents the first in-depth study of the role music plays in Hitchcock’s films. Based on extensive interviews with composers, writers, and actors, as well as archival research, Sullivan discusses how Hitchcock used music to influence his cinematic atmospheres, characterizations, and even storylines. Sullivan examines the director’s relationships with various composers, especially Bernard Herrmann, and tells the stories behind some of their now-iconic musical choices. Covering the entire director’s career, from the early British works up to Family Plot, this engaging work will change the way we watch—and listen—to Hitchcock’s movies.

A Companion to Alfred Hitchcock

A Companion to Alfred Hitchcock
Author: Thomas Leitch
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 624
Release: 2011-03-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1444397311

The most comprehensive volume ever published on Alfred Hitchcock, covering his career and legacy as well as the broader cultural and intellectual contexts of his work. Contains thirty chapters by the leading Hitchcock scholars Covers his long career, from his earliest contributions to other directors’ silent films to his last uncompleted last film Details the enduring legacy he left to filmmakers and audiences alike

Hitchcock's Ear

Hitchcock's Ear
Author: David Schroeder
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2012-03-22
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1441110704

Music is an underexplored dimension in Hitchcock's works. Taking a different view from most works on Hitchcock, David Schroeder focuses on how an expanded definition of music influences Hitchcock's conception of cinema. The structure and rhythm of his films is an important addition to the critical literature on Hitchcock and our understanding of his films and approach to filmmaking. Alfred Hitchcock liked to describe his work as a director in musical terms; for some of his films, it appears that he started with an underlying musical conception, and transformed that sense of music into visual images. The director's favorite scenes lacked dialogue, and they made their impact through a combination of non-verbal actions and music. For example, the waltz and the piano are used as powerful images in silent films, and this approach carries over into sound films. Looking at such films as Vertigo, Rear Window, and Shadow of a Doubt, Schroeder provides a unique look at the way that Hitchcock thought about cinema in musical terms.

The Silent Scream

The Silent Scream
Author: Elisabeth Weis
Publisher:
Total Pages: 200
Release: 1982
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN:

When moviegoers refer to Alfred Hitchcock's style, they are usually thinking of his virtuoso camera work and editing. Yet this seminal book reveals that Hitchcock's use of sound -- language, sound effects, and music -- is just as essential, distinctive, and masterly. The premise of "The Silent Scream" is that Hitchcock's aural style is inseparably linked with his visual and thematic interests. Technical achievement are treated here not as isolated bravura effects but as components of a film's overall meaning. Hence, much of this book is about aural motifs in the work of a director who could find something healthy in a scream and something sinister in laughter or a children's song. "The Silent Scream" should fascinate anyone interested in learning more about Hitchcock's films or about the ways in which the sound track subtly manipulates the movie audience. -- From publisher's description.

Film Music in the Sound Era

Film Music in the Sound Era
Author: Jonathan Rhodes Lee
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 1096
Release: 2020-03-10
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1000091287

Film Music in the Sound Era: A Research and Information Guide offers a comprehensive bibliography of scholarship on music in sound film (1927–2017). Thematically organized sections cover historical studies, studies of musicians and filmmakers, genre studies, theory and aesthetics, and other key aspects of film music studies. Broad coverage of works from around the globe, paired with robust indexes and thorough cross-referencing, make this research guide an invaluable tool for all scholars and students investigating the intersection of music and film. This guide is published in two volumes: Volume 1: Histories, Theories, and Genres covers overviews, historical surveys, theory and criticism, studies of film genres, and case studies of individual films. Volume 2: People, Cultures, and Contexts covers individual people, social and cultural studies, studies of musical genre, pedagogy, and the industry. A complete index is included in each volume.

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho
Author: Robert Phillip Kolker
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2004
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0195169190

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho: A Casebook 'brings together critical essays on this influential and teachable film. The essays not only elaborate on the complexities of the film, but represent the spectrum of film criticism, including an analysis of its music and close readings illustrated by many stills from the film.

Music From The Hitchcock Films (Solo Piano)

Music From The Hitchcock Films (Solo Piano)
Author: Wise Publications
Publisher: Wise Publications
Total Pages: 96
Release: 2014-05-16
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1783233370

Alfred Hitchcock was once so famous he was the only film director whose name appeared on the cinema marquee above the title. He disparaged actors and loathed location shooting since both threatened the precise realisation of the film he had already made in his mind. Yet, in his Hollywood heyday he forged some creative collaborations he truly valued: those with composers. From the start, Hitchcock knew that music was an invaluable aid to any director of suspense movies who wanted to put his audience through the emotional wringer. From Arthur Benjamin’s pivotal cantata in the 1934 version of 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' to Bernard Herrmann’s jagged soundtrack for the landmark shocker 'Psycho', the music was usually a visceral part of any Hitchcock movie. By the time John Williams scored Hitchcock’s final film 'Family Plot' (1976), a whole generation of moviegoers would always remember their favourite Hitchcock film with, as it were, the soundtrack attached. Here, arranged for Piano, are some of the most evocative themes from some of Hitchcock’s most unforgettable films.

Music, Sound and Filmmakers

Music, Sound and Filmmakers
Author: James Eugene Wierzbicki
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2012
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0415898943

This book is a collection of essays that examine the work of filmmakers whose concern is not just for the eye, but also for the ear.

Making Music in Selznick's Hollywood

Making Music in Selznick's Hollywood
Author: Nathan Platte
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2018
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0199371113

This book tells the fascinating story of the evolution of David O. Selznick's style through the many artists whose work defined Hollywood sound.