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Psycho - Bernard Herrmann - Coggle Diagram
Psycho - Bernard Herrmann
Context
Sonority
Prelude
opening 'hammered' chords
The City
8-part bowed string writing
romantic style
octave doublings and high tessitura
pp
Marion
most conventional
straight-forward, mid-range
3-6 part writing
arco
opening melody repeated an octave lower in the second violins
important dynamics
The Murder
'shrieking' notes at top of instrument's range
sffz and senza sordini - only cue that does this
texture builds from top downwards
each of the 8 divisi parts come in one after the other - 8-note chord cluster
from b17 - upper strings alternate arco and pizzicato low cluster chords
whilst cellos and basses play off-beat figures low tessitura - octaves to diabolus dim 5th
The Toys
divisi violins play downward parallel 7th chords
ostinato double pedal underneath
viola plays arco F crotchets (down bowed)
cello plays pizz Es a 9th lower
double bass holds E pedal octave below this
The Cellar
Discovery
aggressive, highly rhythmic dissonant chords
accents strengthened by pizz in double bass
rapid downward parallel 7th chords in the upper strings
Finale
bleak string texture - lone viola
high violins added
chromatic, polyphonic texture
b15-16 viola: 3-note 'Madness' motif
b17-18 played in octaves by cellos/basses
ends on dissonant ff low register chord
just strings - unusual for film music
therefore forced to be creative using them in unusual ways
varied use of textures to compensate for lack of other instruments
trying to reflect stark black and white images and tense claustrophobia with what might seem like a similarly limited ‘closed-in’ sound world
play con sordino for every cue apart from The Murder
gives it more power and creates a more sombre feel to the rest
Structure
use of leitmotifs
Prelude
The City
Marion
The Murder
The Toys
The Cellar
Discovery
Finale
Texture
Prelude
homophonic (b37-48)
homorhythmic (b1-3)
ostinatos (b27-34)
The Cellar
fugal (contrapuntal) textures in up to 4 parts (b5-46)
Finale
monophonic (b1-2)
3 part polyphony (b1-17)
Tonality
avoids traditional tonal centres and key schemes
basically tonal
Marion
atonal
Murder
atonal
Finale
some are dissonant and chromatic with reference to a tonal centre
Harmony
chords used for their sound not their role
non-functional
chromatic, dissonant or atonal harmony
Prelude
Marion
The Murder
Discovery
Finale
The City
Toys
Melody
RMT
Fast
Prelude
Discovery
Cellar
Murder
Slow
City
Toys
Finale
Marion