>>A quick and gentle correction to Don Larsson. The "screaming violins" in >>PSYCHO were not violins at all, but a Theramin (sp?); an instrument >>exploited to great heights by the great composer Bernard Hermann. N. Leibman >I don't think this is correct. I have a copy of the handwritten >score, which shows "Vls" playing an E-flat above high C. In the next >measure, a second violin part adds an E-natural, then the violas and >cellos come in. The parts are clearly labelled by instrument name. >Byu the way, this theme, called "The Murder," carries the instructions >"Molto forzando e feroce." > >I also listened to a recording and it sure doesn't sound like a >Theremin. You can hear the glissando of the string instruments, and >there's none of that Theremin vibrato. > >I know that Miklos Rozsa used the Theremin for Spellbound (and other >scores), but I'm not aware that Bernard Hermann was a proponent. The score for <Psycho> does not use a theremin--it's all strings, playing strongly accented glissandi--but Herrmann did use a theremin in his score for <The Day the Earth Stood Still> (1951). Rozsa is generally credited with first using a theremin in a film score (at least a Hollywood film score) in Spellbound (1945). Neil Lerner [log in to unmask] ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]