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Bernard Herrmann's Score to Psycho (NPR, 30/Oct/2000)

In 1960 Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho created a sensation. People going to see the movie would not be allowed in the theater late, the star of the movie was killed halfway through and the soundtrack that accompanied the horror on screen was horrific and maddening. Bernard Herrmann composed the score. Herrmann and Hitchcock collaborated on many other films — Rear Window, Vertigo, and North by Northwest — but Psycho is seen as the epitome of their collaboration and the definitive sound of horror music. It is part of the NPR 100, the most important American musical works of the past century. Robert Siegel talks with critics and composers about the score.

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