Hitchcock’s Music

by Jack Sullivan

For half a century Alfred Hitchcock created films full of gripping and memorable music. Over his long career he presided over more musical styles than any director in history and ultimately changed how we think about film music. This book is the first to fully explore the essential role music played in the movies of Alfred Hitchcock.
Based on extensive interviews with composers, writers, and actors, and research in rare archives, Jack Sullivan discusses how Hitchcock used music to influence the atmosphere, characterization, and even storylines of his films. Sullivan examines the director’s important relationships with various composers, especially Bernard Herrmann, and tells the stories behind the musical decisions. Covering the whole of the director’s career, from the early British works up to Family Plot , this engaging look at the work of Alfred Hitchcock offers new insight into his achievement and genius and changes the way we watch―and listen―to his movies.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've really got to rent the movies and reread this book to better understand it. If you are a movie buff and you've seen all of Hitchcock's, you'll love this book. It's a great examination of how the movies weren't quintessential Hitchcock without the music. And it goes into detail about how, exactly, Hitchcock used music to make his movies come alive.
A great read for any aspiring screenwriter/director.

[Nathan Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully thorough analysis of the music, both score and diegetic, in each of Hitchcock’s sound films from Blackmail onward; this offers the most historical information on the director’s relationship to his composers, so the chapters on his work with Bernard Herrmann are irresistibly entertaining, but I’d actually argue that the most revealing material comes from the text on the early British films, which have never (to my knowledge) had their audio content studied this heavily. A bit systematic, perhaps, but smart and extremely informative.

[David Sterritt]

Jack Sullivan’s very smart book “Hitchcock’s Music” is a comprehensive study of just what the title says, taking in everything from the Bernard Herrmann classics to less-celebrated scores by other composers and the intriguing orchestration of nonmusical sounds in films where ambience and atmosphere have special importance. I’m also pleased that he regards the 1934 romance “Waltzes from Vienna” as an unjustly neglected item, an opinion I share. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Hitchcock, in music, or in movies.

[Djll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take off a half star for the scarcity of in-depth musical analysis here. The author, to his credit, states up front that it's not that kind of a book. But it's pleasantly readable and dishes plenty about Hitch and his Hollywood years; he had the good or bad fortune to get swept up in the gravity well of David O. Selznick and His Way of doing things, even before Hitch got off the boat from England. The opening chapters on the English movies are thin (due to lack of archival material) but enlightening; in films like The Man Who Knew Too Much, The 39 Steps, and The Lady Vanishes, the author points out that Hitch made up for a lack of budget resources with deeply embedded layers of creativity, and in particular creative and near-constant use of, and references to, music and musical cues that drive the action and inform the audience about character motivations. Fascinating perspectives. Big reco!

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great coverage of how essential music was to Hitch's whole oeuvre. Wish it were more technical, or less prone to empty descriptions like "the music is twisted in irony." Strong "Rear Window" and "Torn Curtain" chapters.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Hitchcock movies then you must realize the role the music plays in them. This book gives many details and backstories about the music as well as the relationship between Hitchcock and the people who created the music.