Herrmann, Bernard
Obsession
Rare & Collectible Vinyl Records

Sealed 1976 Original. Bernard Herrmann Conducting National Philharmonic Orchestra. Small, Clean Cut Out Hole And Tiny Shrink Tear & Crease Mark. "Written In June And July Of 1975, This Score For Brian De Palma's 1976 Film Was Herrmann's Last Work. Similar To Hitchcock's Vertigo, Itself Based On The Tristan And Isolde Story, The Film Is A Tale Of Double Identities And Hidden Schemes. Herrmann Again Creates An Unusual Combination To Underscore The Drama: A Large Cathedral Organ (Recorded In The Church Of St. Giles, Cripplegate, London) And Tympani As Primary Musical Signature Characters, A Small Choir Of Wordless And Sighing Female Voices, Horns, Winds And Strings. "My Obsession Score Has Two Distinct Elements: Romance And Tension. They Usually Go Hand-in-hand" (Herrmann). The Script By Paul Schrader, Originally Called "Déja Vu"), Underwent Re-writes That Partly Incorporated Suggestions Made By Herrmann Who Invented The Idea For The Title Sequence And Changed The Last Third Of The Movie. The Grand "Main Title" Music Opens With Thick Organ And Brass Chords On A Four-note Theme Built Of Two Half-steps, Echoed In The Distance By Gentle And Spooky Voices. A Lovely "Valse Lente" Grows Out Of The Chromatic Theme, As We See The Courtland Plantation Circa New Orleans 1959 In Floating Shots. The "Kidnap" Cue Refers To Court's Remembrance Of The First Kidnap And Ransom For His First Wife Elizabeth, Who Is Killed. Elements Of This Memory Are The "Newsboy" Cue, A Tender, Eerie Theme For Flute And Harp, "The Tape, " A More Dramatic Version Of The Same Theme, And "The Ferry" (We See The Churning Paddle) For Dissonant String Arpeggios, Strident Tympani, Wild French Horn Blasts Alternating With Muted Brass, And Massive Organ Chords. "The Tomb" Signals The Return Of Court To A Monument For His First Wife Elizabeth. In The Exquisitely Written "Sandra" Cue, Cast In-between The Eerieness Of "The Tomb" Music And Lush Impressionistic Chords, Depicts Court's New Love Who Reminds Him Of Elizabeth. In "The Church, " Court Returns To Where He First Met Elizabeth And Has A Vision Of Her -- We Hear Gentle Recaps Of The Half-step Main Theme Played On A Glockenspiel Together With Trilling Strings; This Cue Segues Into "Court's Confession" And "Bryn Mawr" Which Describe The Growing Love Between Court And Sandra While They Are In Florence. They Return To New Orleans (The "New Orleans, " The Imaginary "Wedding, " And "Court-the Morning After" Cues). Court Is Deceived By Lasalle Into Believing That Sandra Has Been Kidnapped, A Déja Vu Of 16 Years Earlier -- "The Plane, " "Court And Lasalle's Struggle" And "Airport" Describe The Finals Sequences In Which The Men Engage In A Death Struggle, And Court Discovers That Sandra Is Lasalle's Daughter. This Last Score By Herrmann Is An Elegant Summing-up Of His Film Score Techniques -- Rich Impressionist Harmonies Unfolded Amidst Captivating Rhythmic Minimalism, Brilliant Scoring With Clearly Denoted Lines And A Wide Spectrum Of Orchestral Timbres, And Last But Not Least, A Musical Sensitivity Perfectly In Touch With The Characters And Their Circumstances." AMG - "Blue" Gene Tyranny (Avant Garde Composer & Pianist)