Torn Curtain: Prelude (1966)

By the mid 'sixties both Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock found themselves working in a film industry that had greatly changed since their working relationship began in 1954. The world was very different too: the conservatism of the 1950s had been overrun by a flamboyant youth counter-culture; a long-overdue revolution in civil rights was taking shape in America, under great duress; and the Cold War was at its chilliest. Hitchcock's cinema was beginning to show its age: many of the stars he preferred to work with were too old to play the roles who drove his stories; his success led him to Universal Studios, where he had traded freedom for wealth; and his sense of controlled, conservative elegance was more and more at odds with the permissive and adventurous mood of the time. Notable among the bearers of his old standards was Herrmann, whose style was remarkably effective in an "Old Hollywood" sort of way. Urged by Hitchcock (who, in turn, was pressured by Universal) to respond more directly to the times in scoring Torn Curtain, Herrmann agreed — and then went ahead with what he thought was appropriate for the film. When this became spectacularly apparent at the first recording session on 24 March 1966 Hitchcock disowned both the score and its composer, ending a working relationship of twelve years in the space of an hour. A new score was written by British composer John Addison, and the film was a resounding flop.

Herrmann was not impressed with the film, but was desperate to continue working with Hitchcock who, by then, was his only regular source of feature film work. To inject a more monumental and forceful emotionalism into Hitchcock's narration Herrmann chose an extraordinary ensemble: twelve flutes — doubling on piccolos, alto flutes and bass flutes — sixteen french horns, nine trombones, two tubas, two timpanists, eight 'cellos and eight basses. Essentially, it is a large symphonic wind ensemble — which was, and still is, unprecedented as a medium for a narrative feature film score. Beyond this, Herrmann's approach was not in the slightest bit updated, relying heavily on repetitions of small cells of chords and simple melodic motifs. Yet it is hard not to argue in the score's favor as an admirable contribution to the film; in any event, it remains one of the best known "might have beens" in the genre of incidental music.

In scoring credit sequences Herrmann tended to prefer three-part forms; his approach in Torn Curtain is typical of this. The "Prelude" is led by an arresting, dissonant declamation for the whole ensemble. This is used as a framing device for the major theme of the score, which is presented by the french horns, accompanied by portentous cascades of chords scored for trombones and rhythmic accents for the tubas, timpani, and lower strings. After the repeat of the declamation, the central section ensues: the theme is presented again by the french horns, modulating toward a new melodic formula, expressed by the tubas and lower strings, composed of a chain of three-note cells. Accompanied by churning harmonies scored for the twelve flutes and marked by rhythmic accents for the french horns, these cells seem to search urgently for resolution; they are eventually cut short when the trombones and timpani draw the form into the final, balancing return of the opening declamations and the theme. On its second repetition, the declamations are compressed, leading to a short coda which, at last, find an emphatic cadence. The "Prelude" is presented here as it was written for the film.

— Christopher Husted