The screeching violins of Psycho’s shower murder. The seductive musical whirlpool and dizzying dissonance of Vertigo. These sounds could only come from the dark genius of Bernard Herrmann—a composer whose explosive personality was matched by intense sensitivity, a compassion for outsiders, and a matchless gift for “getting inside the drama.”

The screeching violins of Psycho’s shower murder. The seductive musical whirlpool of Vertigo. The lonely saxophone that haunts Travis Bickle’s Taxi Driver. These sounds could only come from the dark genius of Bernard Herrmann—the Oscar-winning composer who worked with Hitchcock, Welles and Scorsese.

We’ll meet the artist behind the classic scores for North by Northwest, On Dangerous Ground and others, and discover how his explosive personality was matched by intense sensitivity, a compassion for outsiders, and a matchless gift for “getting inside the drama.”

Steven C. Smith is an award-winning documentary producer, and author of A Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann (UC Press). That book received the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for excellence in writing, and was the main research source for the Academy Award-nominated documentary Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann. Steven's latest book is Music by Max Steiner: The Epic Life of Hollywood’s Most Influential Composer (Oxford).

(Photo of Steven C Smith by Mark A. Vieira)

Please note this will be a ZOOM WEBINAR. You will not be invited to use your audio or cameras but can ask your questions or give your comments through the Q&A chat.

All those who book on Eventbrite will be sent LINK TO JOIN before the event.

We look forward to welcoming you to our programme!