Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain: The Unused Score

Artist: Bernard Herrmann
Label: Varese Sarabande
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Soundtrack
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 030206581720
EAN: 0030206581720
ASIN: B000007OAH

Release Date: 1998-06-02

Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain: The Unused Score

Related Categories:

Movie Soundtracks

| Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General

| Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General

| Classical | Styles | Music

Orchestral Pop

| Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Prelude
The Ship
The Radiogun
The Hotel
The Phone
The Bookstore
The Book
Valse Lente
The Travel Desk
The Blurring
Hotel Berlin
Sarah
Dawn
Gromex
The Farmhouse
The Killing
The Body
The Street
The Toast
The Photos
The Sausage
The Fall
The Cab Driver
The Hill
The Search
Discovery
The Blackboard
The Formula
The Corridor
The Bicycles
The Bus

Similar Items:

The Trouble With Harry (1998 Re-recording)
Marnie: Original Motion Picture Score
Psycho: The Complete Original Motion Picture Score
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Herrmann: Prince of Players / Garden of Evil

Amazon.com

Bernard Herrmann's unused score for Alfred Hitchcock's dour 1966 Cold War drama has gained such a reputation that this Varese Sarabande release marks no less than its third recording. The aborted ninth and final effort by one of the greatest director-composer collaborations in film history (Herrmann's refusal to bow to Hitchcock's and the studio's pressures to deliver a "pop" score led to the permanent severing of the relationship and a replacement soundtrack composed by John Addison) recalls the darker moments of The Man Who Knew Too Much and North by Northwest. For Torn Curtain, Herrmann typically eschewed the melodic in favor of brooding, emotionally compelling orchestral colors, yet another testament to his genius as an arranger. Joel McNeely and the National Philharmonic (one of Herrmann's favorite recording ensembles) have paid rapt attention to the score's every nuance of tempo and tone, delivering the finest performance yet of this lost moody masterpiece. <I>--Jerry McCulley</I>

Customer Reviews:

Pure 90 proof Herrmann.......2005-03-26

It is said that after the first run through of Bernard Herrmann's Prelude for "Torn Curtain", the Universal orchestra broke into spontaneous applause for the composer (who probably shouted something unprintable in response).

What we have here is a new recording of the music Mr. Herrmann wrote for Hitchcock's film before being fired. It is incomplete, leaving us on the bus at the beginning of the penultimate escape scene and ending, at least 20 minutes before the film ends. How wonderful it would have been if Herrmann had completed his score. But, it is said, he never looked back at it. And, of course, how wonderful it would have been if Hitchcock, in a fit of pique, hadn't removed Herrmann from the project. Not to take anything away from the replacement score the British John Addison wrote, in short order, for the film. It's actually quite good. But Hitchcock gained nothing from it. Ultimately, the "hit tune" Main Title the studio had coerced the aging Hitchcock into insisting Herrmann write, and that Herrmann refused to consider, was not delivered by Addison, either.

The score is pure Herrmann, with echoes of earlier works (North by Northwest, Stranger On A Train and The Wrong Man) in evidence, along with precursors of scores yet to come (Sisters, Obsession).

The late Elmer Bernstein also recorded Herrmann's "Torn Curtain", thouugh not quite as much of it, several years ago, for his Film Music Society label. It has never been released on CD. A few of the tracks Herrmann conducted at the single truncated scoring session have been released as well. Unlike this current recording, the miking for that session was very close. The accoustic quite dry. And the result is absolutely thrilling. Consider buying this recording, and then finding those few Herrmann conducted tracks to go along with it. You should be quite pleased with the result.

Oh, yeah. And will someone please release on CD all those fabulous recordings Elmer Bernstein conducted in the seventies.

Not Up to Par with Herrmann's Best...........2000-12-18

but still is a worthy addition to any fan's collection.

The inclusion of this score would have made the accompanying film a much more effective entry in "The Master's" (Hitchcock, that is) credits.

McNeely falters a bit with his conducting of Torn Curtain.......1998-07-16

What can one say about Bernard Herrmann that hasn't been said already? His unused score for Hitchcock's "Torn Curtain" may not rank up there with his best efforts but it still confirms the listener's belief in his unique and brilliant composition style. Now, a newly recorded version of this removed score has been released on the Varese Sarabande label with Joel McNeely conducting the National Philharmonic. McNeely has proven with his past recordings to be an able Herrmann conductor and I am grateful to him for providing his services to bring these scores to new life (even though I still can't understand why he didn't record the full Fahrenheit 451).

Music Album:

Music Album

Music Album

Music

Monument

Golden Wing ~ Amy White, Al Petteway

The Height of Callousness ~ Spineshank

Live Undead ~ Slayer

Accept/Restless & Wild ~ Accept

Visions and Rhythms, Vol. 2 ~ Various Artists

Tous Les Hommes ~ Kent

Les Copains D'abord ~ Georges Brassens

Shujaat Khan & Tejendra Narayan Majumdar ~ Shujaat Khan & Tejendra Narayan Majumdar

Make Me a Woman ~ Core of Soul