The Musical Quarterly (2001) - "The Moment That I Dreaded and Hoped For": Ambivalence and Order in Bernard Herrmann's Score for Vertigo

Details

• journal article: "The Moment That I Dreaded and Hoped For": Ambivalence and Order in Bernard Herrmann's Score for Vertigo
• author(s): Antony John
• journal: The Musical Quarterly (01/Oct/2001)
• issue: volume 85, issue 3, pages 516-544
• journal ISSN: 0027-4631
• publisher: Macmillan
• keywords: Composers, Film & stage music, Herrmann, Bernard, Musical criticism, Vertigo, Works, Alfred Hitchcock, dramatic arts, film, musical score

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Abstract

Slighted by critics on its original release, Vertigo has subsequently been hailed as the apotheosis of the collaboration between Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann, indeed of Hitchcock's entire oeuvre. Moreover, it has become one of the most widely analyzed films in history, proving a consistently fertile ground for film scholars. Yet, while the central themes of voyeurism and obsession, and of love and death, have been thoroughly illuminated through the examination of filmic images and dialogue, Herrmann's score for Vertigo has, by comparison, been somewhat overlooked. This neglect is surprising, since the same themes that resonate throughout Vertigo criticism are often prefigured or reconfigured musically; Herrmann's score maintains an active role in Hitchcock's complex narrative. This article explores that role, focusing initially on the means by which Herrmann's music fosters identification with the male protagonist (Scottie, played by James Stewart) and then on the musical gestures and techniques that sustain, yet complicate this identification. In order to facilitate analysis, the sections of this essay reflect the tripartite musical form underlying Vertigo: a prelude (the opening credits), three narrative movements (of almost equal length), and a coda.