My favorite classic movie scores are Leonard Bernstein's for ON THE WATERFRONT (1954), Alfred Newman's for THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (1959) - and Bernard Herrmann's for PSYCHO (1960). Herrmann composed his all-strings, "black-and-white" score at around the same time he wrote the hauntingly beautiful music for such memorable episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE as "Walking Distance" and "The Lonely." The parts of the extensive PSYCHO score that stayed with me most after seeing the movie for the first time were the "flight" theme (when Marion Crane, after having embezzled money, is fleeing in her car from the police); the "temptation" theme (heard as the camera focuses on the stolen money lying on Marion's bed); and, of course, the squealing violins of the two famous murders: Marion's (in the shower) and Detective Arbogast's (on the stairs). All of that music - and in fact, the entire movie score - is captured vividly in this 1996 recording by Joel Mc Neeley and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The recorded sound is spacious, the strings lush in the almost-Romantic "Marion" and "Marion and Sam" themes. So great is the PSYCHO score that it fully deserved this complete, modern recording. Let's hope that Mc Neeley and his orchestra record Herrmann's TWILIGHT ZONE themes, too.

Spectacular re-recording of what remains one of the most recognizable and imitated film scores of all time. As usual with McNeely and the RSNO, the performance is both electrifying and exact, and the recording is spot on. Herrmann felt that Hitchcock's black-and-white film needed an equally black-and-white score, so he removed the "color" from the orchestra by limiting his writing strictly to the string section. What he accomplished was amazing in its ability to manipulate one's primal emotions, with or without the film. From the panic-stricken opening titles, through the long passages of drawn-out suspense, to the famous murder "stings," few other scores have done so much to build and shape the overall mood and movement of a movie. This completed Herrmann's trilogy of masterpieces for Hitchcock films, the prior ones being 'Vertigo' and 'North by Northwest.' If the former was his most darkly romantic, and the latter his most light-hearted and adventurous, then this one is easily the bleakest and most relentlessly single-minded. Yet it holds up splendidly as a stand-alone piece of work, brought to life once again under McNeely's direction. I'm not usually a fan of re-recordings, but he and the RSNO seem to get Herrmann's work just right time and again. A must-own if you love film music.

Can one deny that Bernard Herrmann's score to "Psycho" belongs in the top five of all-time great film scores? I think not.

Joel McNeely and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra have performed the score masterfully with every thrilling, as well as subtle, chord.

Purists may "scoff" that this rendition differs from the one conducted by Herrmann in the film, and to them I say "So what?"

This is merely one ensemble's interpretation of the work of a master as seen and played through the eyes of composer/arranger McNeely.

In other words, it's worth the money to buy and savor one's purchase!

The music for the 1960, Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, is a notable part of film history. Bernard Herrmann's score takes us on a "frenzied" trip inside the mind of a madman. The composer decided that the best way to score the film was to use string instruments. At the time, this was a bold move, that to my recollection, has never been tried again (except for the '98 remake). The music for the picture remains, as one of the most effective scores of all time. Even folks who have never seen the film, no doubt recognize the music for the now infamous "Shower Scene", just the same. That fact shows just how much the music has crept into our collective consciousness. Much the same way that composer John Williams's theme from Jaws has, whether you have seen the film or not, you still know the music from that scene, when you hear it

This 1997 re-recording from Varese Sarabande, conducted by Joel McNeeley, is a fine recreation of Bernard Herrmann's work. Sorry, as much as I like composer Danny Elfman's work, his rendition for the aforementioned remake, doesn't quite have the same (recreated) style as this version does. I guess, because I was down on the idea of doing the remake in the first place, therefore, it just doesn't resonate as well for me as this version does.

The CD contains 40 tracks, and has a running time of 61 minutes, 9 seconds This rerecording is recommended and is the next best thing to owning the original by Bernard Herrmann himself.

Varese records has produced many recordings of old movies and even a soundtrack to a book (Star Wars Shadows of the Empire). Some recordings have been hit and miss others have been excellent. This recording fall into the excellent category, the music has a great feel of the movie and the digital sound is a plus. I felt that Joel McNeely and his RSO were actually recording the music for the actual movie themselves. Great work!!