Unconscious anchors
Bernard Herrmann’s music for Marnie
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v5i1.55Keywords:
Alfred Hitchcock, analysis, Bernard Herrmann, film music form, leitmotiv, Marnie, plot structureAbstract
The score for Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie (1964) features three main themes, as well as several subsidiary motifs closely related to the main themes. I examine how the complex relationship between the characters is reflected in a network of motivic connections. The music also serves to emphasize Hitchcock’s use of recurring visual motifs that gradually escalate in intensity. The music that accompanies these visual points of correspondence amplifies their teleological trajectory through a process of registral, orchestrational, and dynamic expansion, and thus plays an important role in helping to articulate the overall dramatic structure of the film.
References
Allen, Jay Presson. 1963. Marnie. Screenplay final draft, 24 September.
Bellour, Raymond. 1977. ‘Hitchcock, The Enunciator’. Camera Obscura 2 (Fall): 66–91.
Brown, Royal. 1994. Overtones and Undertones: Reading Film Music. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Cooper, David. 2003. ‘Film Form and Musical Form in Bernard Herrmann’s Score for Vertigo’. Journal of Film Music 1: 239–48.
Dahlhaus, Carl. 1989. Nineteenth Century Music, trans. Bradford Robinson. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Field, Syd. 1982. Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. New York: Dell Publishing.
Gilling, Ted. 1971–72. ‘The Colour of Music: An Interview with Bernard Herrmann’. Sight and Sound (Winter): 36–9.
Herrmann, Bernard. 1974. ‘A John Player Lecture’. Pro Musica Sana 3: 10–16.
Hunter, Evan. 1997. Me and Hitch. London and Boston: Faber and Faber.
Smith, Steven. 1991. A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Sullivan, Jack. 2006. Hitchcock’s Music. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Wood, Robin. 2002. Hitchcock’s Films Revisited. New York: Columbia University Press.
Bellour, Raymond. 1977. ‘Hitchcock, The Enunciator’. Camera Obscura 2 (Fall): 66–91.
Brown, Royal. 1994. Overtones and Undertones: Reading Film Music. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Cooper, David. 2003. ‘Film Form and Musical Form in Bernard Herrmann’s Score for Vertigo’. Journal of Film Music 1: 239–48.
Dahlhaus, Carl. 1989. Nineteenth Century Music, trans. Bradford Robinson. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Field, Syd. 1982. Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. New York: Dell Publishing.
Gilling, Ted. 1971–72. ‘The Colour of Music: An Interview with Bernard Herrmann’. Sight and Sound (Winter): 36–9.
Herrmann, Bernard. 1974. ‘A John Player Lecture’. Pro Musica Sana 3: 10–16.
Hunter, Evan. 1997. Me and Hitch. London and Boston: Faber and Faber.
Smith, Steven. 1991. A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Sullivan, Jack. 2006. Hitchcock’s Music. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Wood, Robin. 2002. Hitchcock’s Films Revisited. New York: Columbia University Press.
Published
2011-06-23
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Schneller, T. (2011). Unconscious anchors: Bernard Herrmann’s music for Marnie. Popular Music History, 5(1), 55-104. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v5i1.55
