Psycho (1960) | Keeping the Score Series

Name: Psycho (1960) | Keeping the Score Series
Start: 2025-04-16T19:00:00-04:00
Location: The County Theater

Schedule

Wed, 16 Apr, 2025 at 07:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

The County Theater | Doylestown, PA

Be it a gentle piano interlude or a glorious orchestral fanfare, no element of filmcraft sets a movie’s tone and identity quite like the musical score. Film music has the power to underline a filmmaker’s narrative ideas, forge our bond to a heroic character, and move us to the point of tears. Join us all year long as we showcase cinema’s iconic composers whose musical talents enrich the images we see on screen and have us humming their unforgettable melodies as we exit the auditorium. The series continues with Hitchcock's legendary horror film PSYCHO! 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗧𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀: countytheater.org/specials
𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗲: Straight from the mind of Alfred Hitchcock — PSYCHO changed horror films forever. Marion Crane, played by original scream queen Janet Leigh, makes a fateful decision to spend the night at the Bates Motel, run by a peculiar young man named Norman (Anthony Perkins) and his “mother,” who remains ominously off-screen. Bernard Herrmann’s legendary score heightens the tension in this thrilling film to a fever pitch.
𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲: Constrained by a limited budget and unable to secure a full symphonic orchestra, in contrast to Hitchcock's desire for a jazz score, Bernard Herrmann opted for a string orchestra featuring piercing violins, violas, and cellos to craft the now legendary score to PSYCHO. By muting the strings with sordinos, he achieved a darker and more intense auditory experience. Herrmann employed dissonant harmonies, recurring motifs, and startling cues during violent sequences to compliment Hitchcock's surreal visuals. Initially, Hitchcock planned to exclude music from the notorious shower scene; however, Herrmann's persuasive composition won him over and when paired with that specific scene, it would ultimately establish PSYCHO’S score as one of the most iconic in cinema history.

𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 $𝟭𝟬!Become a member of our nonprofit theater for as little as $40 a year. Learn more at countytheater.org/membership