Music in the Films of Alfred Hitchcock

How music in the films of Alfred Hitchcock created suspense, fear, and anxiety.

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Creation of Suspense, Fear, and Anxiety: Music in the Films of Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock was a pioneer in mastering the art of suspense, fear, and anxiety in his films. He worked closely on most of his projects with composer Bernard Herrmann, who orchestrated every musical detail so that Hitchcock’s films could be not just observed, but felt. Other than Herrmann, composers Dmitri Tiomkin and Franz Waxman created the desired effect that so describes the Hitchcockian trademark- music for the psychological drama. Thus, for the purpose of this essay, I will look at selected scenes from Vertigo, Psycho, and The Birds whilst analyzing Herrmann’s work, and will examine Strangers On A Train for Tiomkin’s style of creating suspense, and lastly Waxman’s composition for Rebecca.

Vertigo is well known for the use of the arpeggios, a sounding of the notes of a chord one after the other in rapid succession, rather than simultaneously. This musical element epitomized the main title theme, which had a very slow beginning. An extreme close-up of the eyes looking from left to right already gives the viewer an idea of intrigue; such as the reason for these eyes to be constantly looking back and forth, because they look scared. At the same time, the arpeggios sound and Herrmann specifically fluctuated the chords from major to minor keys- again, adding to the intrigue. Also, the tempo of the arpeggios is fast-paced, not slow, which contrasts with the slow beginning and long shots of the close-ups. The long and deep sounds of the bass clarinets contrast as well with the ostinatos of the arpeggios. This also insinuates tension, adding to the overall suspense.

Interestingly, the nature of the title that literally means ‘dizziness’, plays a central role in the theme of the entire film. It is not a gentle way of falling in love that Hitchcock presents here, but more of a plummet to death from a great height type of falling in love that is illustrated in the story. By doing so, one gets extremely dizzy, or the sensation of ‘vertigo’. The music, in response, is very much in parallel to this idea because of the collaboration of the major and minor chords in the arpeggios as well as the undertones of the bass clarinet, which sound discordant (in rooftop scene as well as main title scene). The high and low registers Herrmann uses emphasize the ‘dizziness’ that could be felt while the tilt camera angles over the rooftop, and hence, the fear of heights. It is that fear that leads one to think of the plummet to one’s death from the top of the building down to the ground.

In Psycho, Herrmann’s use of repetition is extended to applying the music for the main title theme every time the viewer sees Marion on the run with the money. Herrmann often begins the theme when Marion starts the car and drives. Another theme is repeated throughout the film. The money theme, which begins when Marion is first tempted by the money (the not yet stolen $40,000) and the camera slowly dollies towards the envelope, since later in the movie, the same music is heard every time Marion does something with money, whether it be counting it, hiding it, etc. The effect the repeated themes give a viewer is the subconscious signals or premonition that a certain event will take place again regarding a specific subject, such as the subject of money and what Marion does with it. This also lets the viewer feel that the character might get themselves into trouble, because they are seeing the images of money being stolen/hidden/etc, and are associating these images with the occurring music at that instant. Fear of what might happen to a specific character results from this association.

Herrman only uses string instruments throughout the whole film. The music is very well known for the shower scene specifically because of the extreme highs and lows of the sounds of the violins and cellos at the same time. The high and low register here is a trademark of Herrmann’s. But why is it that he chose to use only strings throughout the whole film when strings are usually known to be the background melodies to a love story? One thing for sure, is the fact that the mere concept that at that moment, Marion was being stabbed, and the violins exemplified the shrill, stabbing thrusts of the strings in their topmost registers. This parallel created probably the most terrifying suspense buildup ever known in film history.

The score composed for The Birds was somewhat different. A new instrument at the time was used for the imitation of the sound of the birds: the Trautonium. For this film, Herrmann only supervised the scoring, but Oskar Sala and Remmi Glassman sound-designed for the film. Sala was a trautonium expert and took over composition when it came for the innovative electronic instrument, and made the film notable for having no ‘real’ score and mostly brief source music. A montage of assorted bird calls and sound effects put together by Herrmann provided the ‘incidental music’. the sounds of the birds are sometimes ‘real’ sound effects, and sometimes electronically created. The trautonium made birds sound creepy and frightening, as well as abstract, which corresponded to the abstract depiction of the birds in the film, which at this point are very mysterious. The sound created for the film equates more on the lines of intrigue and anxiety rather than fear. The sounds and the birds are so weird in the title sequence, as they flutter so quickly across the screen in black-and-white and the sound just represents the unfamiliarity and chaos of the birds. This title sequence is actually quite disturbing that the viewer questions what the film is really about and why it is called The Birds.

Also, birds are not meant to be scary animals. And usually, even the sound of birds is used for love themes when lovers (or ‘lovebirds’) kiss or have a romantic moment. Just like clowns are extremely scaring in horror films when they are supposed to be funny, birds in this film represent chaos and anxiety when they are supposed to be lighthearted creatures of peace. The sounds designed for this film, exemplify perfectly the surmounting anxiety Hitchcock wants his viewers to feel.

Strangers On A Train was a concentration on murder and the musical relation it had, every time Bruno saw Barbara. The fact that murder is a morbid and frightening theme, the music Tiomkin composed for the reoccurring theme stood out from the normal suspense style music. The carousel theme ‘And The Band Played On’ repeats itself each time Bruno sees Barbara who wears glasses. This musical theme was first heard when they were in a theme park and the carousel was spinning. The scene when things got out of control put this joyous occasion in an amusement park in an ironic position: a murder was planned to happen. The next scenes of when Bruno spots Miriam (who also wears glasses) also cue for the carousel music to play, giving an allusion to murder. Miriam just stares (extreme close-up of her eyes) and realizes that she is wanted dead by Bruno. The viewer can identify with her character at this point because she doesn’t know Bruno like Barbara does, and so she is just an innocent, random victim who is wanted dead.

The film also portrayed the ‘unspoken’ or ‘psychological’ use of the score with the music/murder relation also through the character Bruno. The fact that Bruno meets Guy on a train and casually proposes an exchange of this ‘perfect murder’, it shows that Bruno regards this as more of a game rather than a serious plot to be planned and calculated. The climax at the merry-go-round is symbolic of Bruno’s playfulness with the idea of murder, and the music to it is a carousel tune that plays over and over (and each time Bruno thinks of murder). This chilling association that Bruno thinks of murder as a game is conveyed in the playfulness of the ‘playground’ music of the carousel and how the carousel keeps turning and turning as the music keeps repeating and repeating- just as Bruno keeps playing this game over and over in his head. It is as scary as the clown who kills. The extreme contrast between what’s light and playful with what’s dark and frightening only makes things more frightening and deceptive. Tiomkin played with this idea very effectively in Strangers On A Train.

Rebecca was made as a glamorous feature to at the same time enchant, and spook the viewer. Waxman worked the main title theme well in setting up the concept of the film, in that it was itself very extravagant and glamorous. The main theme sounded like a love story soundtrack- a larger than life style of music. Its grace set up a 19th century German romanticism atmosphere, which also repeats itself throughout the film. Again, this grand-scale mood contrasts with the psychological drama the film really bases its story on. It somehow psychologically dominates the viewer, just as the unnamed heroin (Mrs. De Winter) is psychologically dominated by the ‘presence’ of the deceased first wife- Rebecca. And it is her theme (main title theme) that keeps repeating itself throughout the film, haunting the viewer as well of her presence. Fear and suspense are constant undertones whenever this theme is heard.
The secret of the Manderley Estate is what centers the plot and enchants the viewer. The compelling mystery and haunting ghost story about a tortured romance goes hand in hand with the mood music, which is very psychological. But because the dialogue is very engaging, it makes it more difficult to concentrate on the score. Waxman adopted a slow but meticulous romantic but tragic ambiance. Especially the scene where Mrs. De Winter enters Rebecca’s room, where the viewer feels what she feels through what the music conveys- mystery, enchantment and fear of an empowering presence. Everything musically and aesthetically is grand and imposing, with a constant contrast of cold and distant to warm and approachable, such as the relationship between Mr. De Winter and Mrs. De Winter; like Rebecca’s distant but imposing ‘presence’ and Mr. De Winter’s wish for her warmth and closeness; like the Estate and its story upon the viewer… Thus, any little contrast creates this suspense, fear or anxiety, and is magnified to an immense degree.

The functions of music in films can be physical or psychological, to break them down into two main categories. Hitchcock liked to use psychological scoring methods because it goes well with the majority of the stories he likes to tell. As in The Birds, physical scoring can work well too with creating anxiety and fear for instance, but less with suspense. The abrupt cues of the sounds exemplify the unstable nature of the birds, for example. In terms of his other stories, because they are all mostly psychological dramas, the mood music or ambient scoring is more successful in producing suspense. Since suspense is more of a gradual undertone that presents itself as a premonition for something bad that might happen.

The way Hitchcock likes to repeat his musical themes helps emphasize the level of suspense and fear in his stories. Whenever a character appears and their theme resonates, or an event takes place and its theme is played, it is always effective to repeat the same theme when allusions of that character or event happen again. The viewer at this point is reminded of that character or event subconsciously and gets nervous (obviously, only if the character or event connotes a fear or anxiety).

I have noticed, moreover, how the overall technique to emanate suspense, fear and anxiety in Hitchcock’s films are through contrasts of themes, characters and relationships as well, whether aesthetically or musically. Evidently, the music helps a great deal and develops the mysteries a story can have, also when the score is synchronized with the images of what the story is telling. But when there is an overt contrast in what the viewer sees and what the music is conveying, the viewer can experience strong emotions as well, and this method is very effective when Hitchcock uses it to generate suspense in his films. Also, because he has close ties with most of his composers, such as Herrmann, they can identify his traits and focus on his style and what works with his ways of telling a story.

Sources:

Videos:
Vertigo (1958)
Psycho (1960)
The Birds (1963)
Strangers On A Train (1951)
Rebecca (1940)

Handouts (in class):
Functions of Music In Film
Music And Murder
Analysis Of A Scene
Bernard Herrmann: Essential Filmography
Sound Theory & Sound in The Birds
The Language Of Music: A Brief Analysis Of Vertigo

Books:
Setting Up Your Shots: Great Camera Moves Every Filmmaker Should Know By Jeremy Vineyard, January 2000.

The Art Of Alfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years Of His Motion Pictures By Donald Spoto. First Anchor Books edition. 1972.

Websites:
http://www.epinions.com/content_68423093892
http://eric.b.olsen.tripod.com/psycho_mus.html

Disclaimer
The above essay was written by a college student and merely states opinions of a college student. However, if you feel strong about responding to the opinions stated, please write to articles@directorym.com and express your concerns.


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