Symphony of Suspense

[marcosegundo]

hitchcock films cilps

[newscaster13]

Movie composer Bernard Herrmann making a cameo appearance in the orchestra scene, AND making score for the movie.

FANTASTIC!!!!

[audiomanslc]

Notice on the clip starting at 6:57 that the timpanist is not actually connecting the mallets to the drum heads. He is faking and draws back 2 to 4 inches before reaching them. Presumably they are going through the motions to a prerecorded track (at least in that shot). I noticed that many years ago and it always cracked my up whenever I would see that scene. Still though, a great suspense classic.

[19ji98ng05re03n]

Originally this music is average suspense-feeling, but Hitchcock made it 100% suspenseful!!!

[bronxbearbud]

Sure - SHE screams out in the middle of a performance and is hailed as a heroine. But when I scream out "JUST DIE ALREADY" during the third act of Tristan and Isolde they throw me out of the theater! Where's the justice?

[AJNorth]

Australian composer Arthur Leslie Benjamin wrote the music for the original 1934 version of the film, with lyrics by D. B. Wyndham-Lewis (who co-wrote the screenplay). For the remake, Hitchcock asked Bernard Herrmann to craft a piece for the Royal Albert Hall climax. Herrmann believed the "Storm Cloud Cantata" still to be perfect for the scene, and merely expanded it. Performed by London Symphony Orchestra, Covent Garden Chorus, with Barbara Howitt, Soloist and Bernard Herrmann conducting.

[Deaboy100]

Thumbs if you were sent here by the book "The Musical Experience" by John J. Chiego!

[Gregorius24]

Now if someone can tell me where I can find/buy a complete orchestra score of Herrmann's arrangement of Arthur Benjamin's "Storm Clouds Cantata" I would be forever grateful.

[Classic1940s]

Ah, I love this. One of my favorite Hitch films--scenes--by far.

[hello152984]

whats it called??

[fleecyboy]

@hello152984 The piece is a cantata entitled "Storm Clouds Cantata" by Arthur Benjamin, a British composer. The sinister fellow who shoots at the prime minister is a great character actor of the period named Reggie Nadler.

[ExtremeCloseUp241]

I don't know what to say. It's breathtaking.

[auntcamille]

There came A whispered terror On the breeze

And the dark forest shook;

And on the trembling trees Came the nameless fear

And panic overtook Each flying creature Of the wild

And when they all had fled Yet stood the trees

Around whose heads Screaming The night birds wheeled and shot away

Finding release From that which drove them onward like their prey

The storm clouds broke and drowned the dying moon

[poetcomic1]

I love that girl companion of the assassin with her fingernail polish on her dirty hands, As the scene reaches a climax Hitchcock shows her hyperventilating, her stomach convulsing almost sexually. It raises the suspense a further notch.

[AJNorth]

Those who enjoy this remarkable piece of music (and also that of the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius), might seek out the second symphony of Swedish composer Lars-Erik Larsson (1908-86), a three-movement work of about thirty minutes.

The only recording available is with Hans-Peter Frank conducting the Helsingborg S.O. on BIS 426.

[AJNorth]

Whether the classic "Psycho" (1960), scored only for strings, "Vertigo" (1958), with its hypnotic Main Title or "North By Northwest" (1959), with Herrmann's marvelous fandango (all three complimented with graphics by the great Saul Bass), or Herrmann's cameo here, this was artistry never surpassed - and rarely equalled.

[sth90025]

where is peter lorre?

[schoduck]

Peter Lorre was in the 1934 version. BTW, Lorre did not know a word of English when filming but just spoke the phonetics.

[vittoriostoraro]

The very definition of "Pure Cinema".

The way the cuts are timed with the music, the pacing, the choice of shots, the music itself AND the added bonus of seeing Herrmann conduct. This scene ALWAYS brings me to tears.

[Pt47112]

I agree with all of you. Fantastic music combined with most dramatic scene.

A milestone in movie History.

[thefantastikmrbone]

In my opinion, the single best scene in movie history.

[Pianodarling1947]

yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dminely]

Te original movie made in the 30s directed by Hitchcock also great, (with Lorre and wendy hiller I think) some say better than the 50s version. Storm Cloud Cantata written by Arthur Benjamin, an Australian and revised and conducted by Bernard Hermann in the later movie version.

[sth90025]

Sir Arthur Benjamin

[rijstevlaai]

This brings tears to my eyes. The best scene that Alfred Hitchcock ever made, which means that this is one of the finest sequences in the film medium, period. Truly, the stuff that legends a remade of. It's a sort of mini-movie with simply unforgettable imagery.

[NGS712]

rijstev: I agree. I find it ironic because while The Man Who Knew Too Much is one of his more forgotten/lesser films this scene tops so many others in his filmography.

[ncmtman]

@rijstevlaai I second that! I am a huge Hitchcock fan, and I keep coming back to this scene as my all-time favorite. It is cinematic perfection. You don't need to know exactly what Stewart and Day are saying, nor the others. Hitch's genius in large part was his mastery of visual art. Many of his greatest moments on film have no dialogue. He was truly a master.

[DonCherrySays]

The Master of suspense is at his finest in the Albert Hall sequence ... he plays with his audience's emotions, and builds the suspense at the same pace that the orchestral score builds, for the grand finale ... the political assassination.

Simply brilliant. You can watch this many manay times, and still pick up on some subtle stroke of Hitch's genius, that went unnoticed on previous viewings.

[DonCherrySays]

The Albert Hall sequence lasts 12 minutes without a single word of dialogue and consists of 124 shots.

Conductor Bernard Herrmann plays himself on-screen. He's listed as such in the beginning credits, and his name can be seen on the poster play bill when Doris Day exits the taxi at Albert Hall. All the names on the poster play bill are those of the performers of the "Cantata Storm Clouds" : the London Symphony Orchestra, Barbara Howitt (mezzo-soprano) and the Covent Garden Opera Chorus.

[NGS712]

Great scene. Powerful music, no dialogue, and great editing. Then again, I guess I shoul expect no less. ;)

[bleedinblue2007]

Hitch at his best, with self reflexivity and everything. the Master of Suspense. I love my class haha

[cycler8]

One of the most brilliant musical scenes in a movie!

[oohyllab]

This was a really neat movie, and an awesome orchestral ensemble. The best part here of course. Thanks for the great post. I have this movie, and it's a good one.

[bipolarexpress1]

Perfect. Good Job!

[blackstout7]

GREAT!