Psycho (1960 film) score

E288338

The "Psycho" (1960) score is Bernard Herrmann’s iconic, string-only film soundtrack, renowned for its shrieking violins and tense motifs that revolutionized horror movie music.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Psycho (1960 film) score canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf film score
soundtrack
associatedScene shower murder scene
staircase murder scene
composer Bernard Herrmann
composerDecision Herrmann chose all-strings ensemble
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
criticalReputation landmark in horror music
one of the most influential film scores in cinema history
directorCollaborator Alfred Hitchcock
distributorOfFilm Paramount Pictures
famousCue Prelude
The City
The Murder
The Rainstorm
The Stairs
forWork Psycho
surface form: Psycho (1960 film)
genre film music
horror film music
impactOnDirector Alfred Hitchcock credited the score with enhancing the film’s effectiveness
influencedGenre horror film scoring conventions
slasher film music
innovation exclusive use of strings for entire score
use of shrieking string clusters to depict violence
instrumentation string orchestra
languageOfWork non-vocal
laterReleases re-recorded soundtrack albums
mood frightening
suspenseful
tense
notableFeature dissonant harmonies
ostinato patterns
screeching violin glissandi
sharp staccato attacks
string-only orchestration
productionCompanyOfFilm Shamley Productions
recordingFormat mono
releaseYear 1960
style atonal
modernist
tempoCharacteristic driving rhythmic figures
usedIn climactic revelation scene of Psycho (1960 film)
opening titles of Psycho (1960 film)
usesInstrument cello
double bass
viola
violin

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Bernard Herrmann notableWork Psycho (1960 film) score
North by Northwest (1959 film) score followedBy Psycho (1960 film) score