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10 Extraordinary Partnerships Between Composers and Directors

I find the relationship between music and film not only fascinating, but absolutely essential to my understanding and enjoyment of the medium. Good music does not guarantee a good film, of course, but the best movies tend to be the ones that make the most meaningful use of music, and the greatest scores are almost always written for truly incredible works of art.

[h2]5. Bernard Hermann and Alfred Hitchcock[/h2]

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Bernard Hermann only scored a small percentage of Alfred Hitchcock’s total directorial output (the filmmaker was as prolific as he was brilliant), but when that percentage includes Psycho, North by Northwest, Vertigo, and The Man Who Knew Too Much, the collaboration must surely be considered legendary. Psycho in particular is as good an example of director and composer working in harmony as exists, with Hitchcock himself famously remarking that “33% of the effect of Psycho was due to the music,” and the score from the infamous ‘shower scene’ having entered the modern cinematic vernacular worldwide. A disagreement on the musical direction for 1966’s Torn Curtain ended Hermann and Hitchcock’s professional relationship, but in the eight films they collaborated on, the two forged some of history’s most memorable and influential unions of music and cinema. 

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