Dimension strings "Vertigo"

[William]

I did a Dimension strings demo of Bernard Herrmann's  "Theme d'amour" from Vertigo - my favorite of all film scores!  - as my first mix using them.  It is scored for a very large orchestra, though you mainly hear the violins with a lot of divisi, so it seemed appropriate to mix the Dimension violins with Appassionata.

Doing a piece like this is a great way to study the score, and I noticed very strongly the mastery of orchestration Herrmann had, as well as the complex harmony.  People might think this is Romantic, like  the Wagner Liebestod, but I think it  is a deliberately ironic Romanticism, just like the film.   It is interesting in this score also how he used triple woodwinds - 3 flutes, 3 clarinets, 2 oboes and English horn, 2 bassoons and contrabassoon, but augmented them with 2 bass clarinets - his woodwind sections are always very richly scored.  ALso, full brass though it only appears in the end. His horn parts are very divided for all four horns  so the Dimension brass were good for that also.   

By the way, this score is only in manuscript and Herrmann's handwriting is almost as bad as Beethoven's! 

[Dar32]

WoW 

I googled vertigo, and in 2012 it took over citizen kane as the best movie of all time from sight-sound. You think it's because of the music?

You're right on it William. Thanks 

[Mike B Studios]

Nice job William.... That was lovely.

[William]

 thanks dar and Mike. 

One other thing about this particular piece that is interesting is how it has a very subtle waltz influence - not obvious, but it is mainly in 3/4 time and there are various figures - like in the woodwinds - that are swirling, moving in circles.  The main title has that in extreme form, while the spirals are spinning that suggest the dance of love and death and all the spiral images of the film.  But even in this piece, there is a subtle "going around in circles" that the story itself is about.  And the big climax in C major at the end is totally ironic, because the main character is about to find out everything was an illusion.  What fascinates me about this most is how the music is completely integrated with everything in the film.  They are like one entity, totally inseparable. 

[servandus]

  Lovely performance, William. Congratulations for having this little gem as an official VSL demo! You know, inspite of being mainly a string demo, I also find the woodwinds masterly done in your performance. Those Dim. Brasses at the end are also brilliant (I always wondered why the brass section (especially horns) attracted my attention in all your demos... till I read your biography ;-)) 

  I think it's obvious that the "Wagnerian harmonic flavour" is a conscious choice by Herrmann. Some may see this as a sign of lack of originality... which makes me smile (and would probably make Herrman laugh). The instrumentation is "Herrmanesque" in every respect and really makes the music sound the way it sounds... Herrmann's.

[William]

 Thanks Servandus.  I would say that the elements of Wagner is this piece are only diminished chords and appoggiaturas which are not owned by Wagner.  Wagner never did anything remotely like the tertiary modulations in the middle of phrases that Herrmann uses.   

Wagner wanted opera to be the ultimate combination of all arts.  I wonder what he would have thought of cinema.  

[Talino]

I've been looking for the score for that track for quite a while. Where did you find it, and is it shareable?

[William]

 Yes, it is available from several places as a pdf, just by googling, but it is in handwriting, so rather difficult to decipher in places.

[Talino]

Thanks, found it, I was wary of all those "free download" links but for once it wasn't the usual spam. Difficult to read indeed. If anyone ever bumps into a printed score please post here.