Bernard Herrmann

Early Life

Bernard Herrmann was born on June 29, 1911, in New York City as Maximillian Herman to a Jewish family of Russian descent. His father, Abram Dardik, encouraged his musical pursuits, taking him to the opera and urging him to learn the violin. At the age of thirteen, Herrmann discovered Hector Berlioz's "Treatise on Instrumentation," which significantly influenced his musical direction. After winning a composition prize, he decided to focus on music, studying at New York University under Percy Grainger and later at the Juilliard School. By twenty, he had formed the New Chamber Orchestra of New York and befriended notable composers like Aaron Copland and George Gershwin.

Career

Herrmann's career began as an assistant to Johnny Green on the radio program "Music in the Modern Manner," where he composed incidental music and conducted rehearsals. He quickly rose to become the music director of the Columbia Workshop, an experimental radio drama series. Over the years, he became chief conductor of the CBS Symphony Orchestra, introducing American audiences to new works, particularly those of Charles Ives. Herrmann's innovative approach to film scoring revolutionized the industry, moving away from traditional illustrative techniques to create a unique harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary. His collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock produced iconic scores for films like "Psycho" and "Vertigo."

Personal Life

In 1934, Herrmann met Lucille Fletcher, a CBS secretary, and they married in 1939 after a five-year courtship. The couple had two daughters but divorced in 1948. Herrmann later married Lucy Anderson, which lasted until 1964, and then Norma Shepherd in 1967. Throughout his life, he emphasized artistic integrity, often insisting on creative control over his film scores, which led to a notable split with Hitchcock after a decade of collaboration. Herrmann passed away on December 24, 1975, leaving behind a legacy as one of the greatest film composers of all time.