Film Music - Psycho

Question 1

What is the overall instrumentation of Psycho?

Answer 1

Limited to an orchestral string section

Question 2

What sonority is created by the instrumentation and how?

Answer 2

SOnority sounds cold due to the use of con sord into for all cues except one.

Question 3

Prelude:

What is the instrumentation?

Answer 3

Opens with hammered chord and and obsessive quaver ostinatos in upper strings.
Cello and bass play pizz to create feel of pulse.
Fingered Tremolo used frequently.

Question 4

The City:

What is the instrumentation?

Answer 4

Luscious 8 part bowed strings in romantic style.
Octave doubling
VERY high upper strings

Question 5

Marion:

What is the instrumentation?

Answer 5

Conventional/straightforward
Mid range - between 3 and 6 part
Opening melody 1 octave below in vln2

Question 6

The Murder:

What is the instrumentation?

Answer 6

Shrieking / ultra high notes
Sffz and sensational wording for impact
Upper strings alternate arco/pizz
Cello/bass sinister offbeat figures

Question 7

What is the overall tonality of Psycho?

Answer 7

Avoids tonal centres and key schemes with a lack of traditional cadences
Music is sometimes basically tonal with some atonal cues.
Some cues dissonant and chromatic.

Question 8

What is the overall harmony of Psycho?

Answer 8

Chords are used for their sound/effect. Harmony is generally non-functional with a lack of traditional cadences.
Harmony is very chromatic, dissonant and atonal (Few conventional triads)

Question 9

What is the overall texture of Psycho?

Answer 9

Textures entirely created by layering and building strings

Question 10

What is the overall melody of Psycho?

Answer 10

Hermann builds long melodic phrases from motifs.
Primarily uses repetition, sequence and development.
All ideas eventually become downward chromatic scales.
Melodies often later become ostinatos.

Question 11

Prelude:

How is the melody created?

Answer 11

Prelude introduces the 4 key motifs used throughout and introduces the feeling of madness and fear.
Main melodic component ade up from 2 major thirds interlocking.
All uses an upward semitone figure.

Question 12

What is the overall tempo, metre and rhythm of Psycho?

Answer 12

4 cues in a faster tempo:
- Prelude, Murder, Cellar and Discovery
4 cues in a slower tempo:
- The city, Marion, Toys, the Finale

Question 13

What is Psycho?

Answer 13

A black and white horror film about a psycho murderer

Question 14

Who composed the Psycho score?

Answer 14

Bernard Hermann

Question 15

Who directed the Psycho film?

Answer 15

Alfred Hitchcock

Question 16

Who were Hermann’s main influences?

Answer 16

Stravinsky
Debussy
Bartok

Question 17

What is the overall instrumentation?

5 points

Answer 17

Scored entirely for strings

• muted for all cues except the Murder
• Pizzicato and arco techniques
• soul ponticello
• tremolo and glissando used

Question 18

How is orchestration used?

3 points

Answer 18

Different instruments emphasised at different times:

• unison and octave doubling
• moments of polarisation, or where highest or lowest instruments omitted to create effect (ie. screeching chords at murder)

Question 19

What is the overall structure?

3 points

Answer 19

Music is fragmented
Structure is made of continuous repetition
Primary function is t fit with action on screen

Question 20

Marion:

What is the structure?

Answer 20

Marion has a more definable structure than the other cues

Question 21

How are leitmotifs used in the structure of Psycho?

Answer 21

The structure s based around the repetition of leitmotifs associated with specific characters, themes of actions.

Question 22

Examples of leitmotifs in Psycho:

Answer 22

Murder Motif

Madness motif

Question 23

What is the overall use of texture?

Answer 23

Psycho uses a variety of string textures - articulation/string textures affect how dense the music feels

Question 24

Examples of textures in Psycho and where they are seen:

5 points

Answer 24

Monophonic (finale)
Homophonic (Prelude)
Polyphonic (finale)
Fugal (clear)
Ostinato (Prelude)

Question 25

Overall use of tonality in Psycho?

2 points

Answer 25

Psycho largely avoids traditional tonality
- moment of atonality (murder and finale)
- some tonal cues (Marion)
All cues are dissonant and chromatic and do not fit into particular keys but may have a tonal centre instead.

Question 26

What features make the tonality of Psycho largely nonfunctional?

6 points

Answer 26

Chromaticism 
Dissonance
HITCHCOCK CHORDS
Cluster chords 
Augmented 4ths
Extended chords

Question 27

What elements of tonality in Psycho are more conventional?

3 points

Answer 27

Diminished 7ths
Parallel chord movement
chords are built on chromatic scales of semitones apart

Question 28

What is the overall melody of Psycho?

4 points

Answer 28

Based on motifs which are repeated and developed
Often link with appearance of characters or themes (letimotifs)
Also used in other parts of the music ie. the accompaniment (Prelude)
Intervals of a third and a semitone significant
- many melodic/harmonic features based around them

Question 29

What is the overall use of metre in Psycho?

2 points

Answer 29

Each cue has a different time sig to help fit with the scene

Sometimes obscured by the unusual rhythmic patterns

Question 30

Overall use of rhythm in Psycho?

4 points

Answer 30

Many cues use syncopated ideas
Large use of awkward rhythmic groups like triplets
Rhythmic displacement varies motifs
Constant streams of semiquavers and quavers