Composer · Conductor

Bernard Herrmann

United StatesACTIVE 1938–1975

portrait · bernard herrmann conducting

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Born: 29 June 1911 · New York, USA
Died: 24 December 1975 · Los Angeles, USA
Nationality: United States
Professions: Composer, Conductor
Active: 1938–1975

Herrmann changed what a score can do: instead of illustrating the scene, it began to think alongside the film. From Orson Welles’s radio to Citizen Kane, from Hitchcock to Taxi Driver, his sound is unmistakable.

For Vertigo he wrote an orchestral spiral of desire and dizziness; for television he composed the original theme and episodes of The Twilight Zone. He died hours after recording the Taxi Driver score.

Career

1938–1941: Radio with Orson Welles; screen debut with Citizen Kane.
1955–1964: Partnership with Hitchcock: The Man Who Knew Too Much, Vertigo, North by Northwest and Psycho.
1959–1963: Scores for television, including The Twilight Zone.
1966–1975: European period and rediscovery: Fahrenheit 451, Obsession and Taxi Driver.