Bernard Herrmann and the role of the composer/orchestrator by Filippo Faustini
Introduction This essay will attempt to briefly analyse the role of film music composers who orchestrate their own scores opposed to those who adopt a more collaborative approach, working side by side with orchestrators, arrangers, copyists and so on. As a starting point, I will take as an example the work of composer Bernard Herrmann, a famous upholder of the first approach. In the second half of this essay, I will consider the situations which lean toward the latter case, more frequently used today: the composer plus orchestrator approach. Through a back and forth in the history of film music, I will draw some parallelisms between today's common practice and the situation in which Herrmann worked, back in the first half of the 20 th century. After giving an overview of those two opposed compositional methods, I aim to demonstrate how orchestration is such a crucial stage during the process of film music scoring and how deeply it intervenes in building the concept concept of a musical musical composition.
Bernard Herrmann and the Composer/Orchestrator approach Bernard Herrmann (born Max, New York 1911 - Los Angeles 1975) was an American composer and conductor, mainly known for his collaboration with film director Alfred Hitchcock. During the period spent side by side with the director, he scored the music for Vertigo (1958), Vertigo (1958), North North By Northwest Northwest (1959) (1959) and Psycho and Psycho (1960), just to name a few successes. He also collaborated with other famous directors such as Orson Welles, Welles, Robert Wise, Martin Scorsese and François Truffaut. Herrmann was mainly an outsider to many Hollywood executives (SMITH, 2002:96) and that happened in two different periods of his life: when in the ‘40s he moved to Los Angeles to score the soundtrack for Citizen Kane and at the beginning of the t he ‘60s when scores like Bre like Breakfast akfast At Tiffany’ Tiffany’ss by Henry Mancini set up the t he new fashion for soundtrack tunes, which ruled out the composer’s more traditional conception. Herrmann’s personal use of use of timbre, as for example the non-vibrato string playing for Psycho (1960), Psycho (1960), the use of theremin and tracks played backwards in The Day The Earth
Stood Still (1951), were both pioneering and against the tide, considering the famous Hollywood trademark of lush, romantic, huge string section sounds during that age of film music (DAVIS, 1999:44). Not only this made Herrmann a Hollywood outsider, but also the fact that he used to orchestrate his compositions entirely by himself - with some minor exceptions such as The Egyptian (1954) and Taxi Driver (1976) - while on the contrary, many film composers adopted the opposite approach. In an interview Herrmann argues: «Color is very important, […] To orchestrate is like a thumbprint. I can’t understand someone else do it. It would be like someone putting color to your paintings» (SMITH, 2002:107). The question whether to orchestrate or not to orchestrate is a main point in the role of the composer today, with very little time afforded to compose a soundtrack: back in the 30s, major composers like Korngold had the right to take all the time they needed to compose a score (DAVIS, 1999:51) while others may have a shorter period of time, as in the case of Raksin for Forever Amber (DAVIS, 1999, p.325) – 8 ½ weeks for 100 minutes of orchestral music; nowadays the time available to composers may vary from the 10 weeks for The Magnificent Seven (1960), to the 3 weeks of Interview With a Vampire (1994), to the 6 days for Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) (KARLIN, WRIGHT, 2004:60). Many composers now give more or less complete sketches to orchestrators who are asked either to provide instrumentation or to interpret the composer’s main intentions for a particular score or passage. The sketches are mainly employed to give the orchestrator a clue on which colours to use for a certain passage, a practice that is far from unambiguous, even in the format: for example, composer Marvin Hamlisch used 5-lines sketches, while Alex North used 8 and Henry Mancini up to 10; as for the completeness of those sketches, Jerry Goldsmith’s and Henry Mancini’s were complete and exhaustive (KARLIN, WRIGHT, 2004:324). Hollywood film music departments in the first half of the 20th century were self-sufficient: there was a team of composers, orchestrators, proof-readers, copyists, songwriters, orchestral musicians and conductors alongside with the directors, choreographers, producers and so on (DAVIS, 1999:34) and the process of music production was organised as in an assembly line. Herrmann disapproved of this: «Most film music is created by assembly line: one fellow sketches it, another fellow completes it, another one orchestrates it, and yet another adopts it. Consequently the music is dissipated; it has no direction.» (SMITH, 2002:427). In a score like Psycho (1960), it is hardly imaginable that the composer could have made use of an orchestrator,
or have imagined the music separately from its orchestration, since the choice of colour and timbre is the main focus in this score. The same was true about Hitchcock’s choice to shoot the film in black and white: Herrmann recalls « Psycho was not made in color; […] The whole picture was […] purposely shot in black and white. That’s one of the reasons why I use a string orchestra; I wanted to get a black and white musical color. » (COOKE, 2010:221). The whole work makes an extensive use of all the possible nuances that the string orchestra has to offer. In the following transcription from the cue “Temptation”, it can be noticed how the composer uses alternatively arco and pizzicato techniques - carefully balanced in dynamics - alongside with trills, different articulations and tenutos, to create a colourful texture:
The melodic material used here is very scant, it consists of a rhythmic cell used in the form of an ostinato and derived from an interval of a minor third embellished with a neighbour tone. That confirms the focus on colour and orchestration, rather than on the development of extended themes or motives. In another passage from the cue “The Water”, it can be seen how carefully the composer marks the techniques employed to differentiate the timbres of this slim melodic content:
This two examples show how the orchestration process in Bernard Herrmann’s music is inevitably entangled in the compositional development and is inseparable from it. Composer Elliot Goldenthal agrees: « Orchestration is extremely important because it’s not just the tune, it’s not just the melody; it’s who plays it, what’s the concept, what’s the orchestral concept » (DAVIS, 1999:293,294). In my personal experience I find this inevitably true, since orchestration offers me glimpses of the final result; moreover it paves the way to new solutions for the selection of a particular technique or t exture, often affecting my compositional choices as well. For example, should a trill in a string part be assigned to a woodwind instrument (because we aim for a particular effect), it could result in a poor outcome in terms of sound projection, register or even playability. This eventually leads to two options: either a change in the gesture or a change in the colour, thus affecting the composition. If this procedure is applied on a larger scale, the result would be a significant change in the composition itself and this strengthens Herrmann’s point on the necessity for the composer to orchestrate his own compositions. Italian composer Ennio Morricone, just like Herrmann, has always orchestrated his own compositions, stating that orchestration is an integral part of the composition process that cannot be successfully assigned to another person (KARLIN, WRIGHT, 2002:320). Nowadays new problems arise besides the old ones and new technologies are intended to help composers. Among these problems, the main setback in ordinary and – to a smaller extent – mainstream film productions is budget. This implies that music production fees are also affected and therefore, as already mentioned, the time available to compose is largely shortened. Other aspects come into play when dealing with cost cutting:
the musicians' fees (salaries, union fees, etc.), the nature of the composition (i.e. avant-garde music, electronic music, electronic music mixed with orchestral sounds, etc.), the rental of instruments and appliances, and so on (KARLIN, WRIGHT, 2004:59). As a consequence of some of these factors, choices like assigning the composition of the soundtrack to a single artist or band are now made, as in the case of The Social Network (2010) where industrial-rock musician and composer Trent Reznor from the band Nine Inch Nails wrote an electro-oriented score as a solo artist. Another recent possibility is the use of virtual sound technologies (VST) to score soundtracks and this is done at various degrees from independent short-films to mainstream productions. In the latter example, sound design is now becoming more prominent: for instance the blockbuster Pacific Rim (2013), where the soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi is mainly based on electronic sound shaping and modeling rather than on orchestral sounds, or British composer Steven Price’s soundtrack for Gravity (2013), based on synthesized sounds and noises and winner of the 2013 Academy Award for this category ( source: www.oscars.org). These are some modern answers to the old problem of composing and at the same time orchestrating the music, since in most cases the main process is carried out by a single person, even if with the help of some assistants. However, the main reasons for this choice are mainly of an economic nature, as opposed to Herrmann’s artistic reasons. Another example of the inevitability of orchestrating from scratch is the usage of non-classical musical languages. This includes using popular music genres. Nowadays it is common practice to use pop, rock, jazz or world music to evoke a particular "flavour" or to suggest a temporal or geographic localization. For example, in the Oscar winner The Great Gatsby (1974), arranger Nelson Riddle composed and orchestrated the score inserting jazz elements all over the soundtrack to recall the era of the storyline. In more recent years, the same approach has been adopted when dealing with specific musical settings, like in Rock Star (2001), where composer Trevor Rabin used a rock-oriented compositional style to weave around the many rock songs here exploited. This approach inevitably leads to orchestrating the score, since in my opinion popular music is mainly based on timbre, rather than on harmony or rhythm. This implies that the problem of choosing sounds must be faced at the earliest compositional stage. The same applies to scoring for television
and shows, where composers often cannot resort to orchestrators, mostly as a consequence of the very tight schedules they are working to. (KARLIN-WRIGHT, 2004:425).
The Composer plus Orchestrator Approach
One of the main problems which all film music composers faced at various degrees is communicating ideas, either between them and the director/producer or the opposite, when a director tries to explain his vision about which music fits his work best. In the first case mockups come into action, in the latter temp tracks do. In the case of mockups, demonstrative versions prepared to give a sense of the score to the director, Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) technology helps communication greatly, as nowadays mockups sound very close to what the final result should be. In the past, things were a bit different: for example, the long collaborative period and friendship between composer Bernard Herrmann and director Alfred Hitchcock came to an end during the recording sessions of Torn Curtain (1966). Herrmann was recording the score with a bizarre ensemble including 12 flutes, 16 french horns, 9 trombones (just to name a few), when the director entered the room; Herrmann thought that it could have been a good idea to let him hear the result. The reaction was unpredictable: Hitchcock said that it was exactly what he did not want for his film (SMITH, 2002:323) and after a further refusal by the composer to change the nature of the score, Herrmann was fired. This inevitably led to a waste of time and money, and to the end of a lifelong collaboration – a situation which in the present days could have been perhaps avoided by the use of a mockup. In my limited experience, I always found some difficulty in understanding what the author really wants; that is, I believe, due to two main reasons: one is that the person involved has but little knowledge of the music language, often not finding the right words to describe what kind of music they really want; the second reason is that they often have in mind something heard in another soundtrack - a fi nal production - and are often unable to imagine what the final results would be by only listening to the sketches played on a piano. The same occurs with poor MIDI simulation coming from a notation program as well. I also noticed the difference in reactions when listening to the first MIDI rendition and the last one, with the use of more realistic sound libraries and some editing. In this case, orchestrating while composing can place an excessive burden on the composer,
who will have to create a realistic mockup and then modify t he orchestration to properly record the cues with live musicians. MIDI mockups have the aforementioned advantages, but can be somehow problematic when they are meant to be given to “real” musicians, for a number of reasons which I experienced while working on some projects. These in my opinion are: the poor quality of score editors in sequencing programs (parts often need to be adjusted in a musically logic way in order to be given to session musicians), resulting in doubled work for the composer and, consequently, a waste of time and energy; problems related to the balance of instruments and dynamics (some instrumental combinations may be unrealistic, for example having some instruments playing in a barely audible range that in mockups sound big and powerful; or, for instance, a low flute solo that comes out on an orchestral tutti fortissimo background, which in the real world is acoustically impossible); MIDI editing problems (with some MIDI controls, like for example a volume control fade in, the score editor will see a note that in fact is not sounding at that moment and consequently will come out with a score riddled with mistakes, resulting in a waste of time during rehearsals). These are the limitations of working with a MIDI mockup, which can be overcome by the collaboration with an orchestrator and/or a proof reader; in that case, he will make the necessary changes to the final score and will also adapt it for the ensemble which is going to record it, relieving the pressure on the composer. Nowadays, several film music composers have experience with digital technologies, but not all of them have a classical training or some understanding of real orchestras (KARLIN WRIGHT, 2004:326). Considering that it is not so easy today to get a full orchestra to record the composer’s ideas, then the role of an orchestrator in these cases is crucial. This also applies when the composer comes from a popular music background, for example a rock context, like composer Danny Elfman, who in an interview recalls that at the beginning of his career he did not have a clue on how to orchestrate a piece (DAVIS, 1999:279). This leads to problems related to the knowledge of what the sound of a real orchestra is and how it changes depending on the techniques used. For example the number of virtual string players on a part may not reflect a real situation: many sound libraries have for instance 11 violins samples playing together and when the parts are divisi, the number of those virtual violins cannot be reduced, resulting in a huge unrealistic sound.
Another reason to maintain the composer plus orchestrator approach is that the former can keep an eye on writing all the cues for the film, without having to interrupt the process dealing with instrumentation and orchestration (DAVIS, 1999:111). In my opinion this is a good point to keep a fluent and homogenous writing style, as the composer does not have to worry much about anything else. Although in my experience, I find that the aid of MIDI technology to actually hear a certain instrument to be adopted for a certain passage can help shaping the form of the piece. This occurs not only by mentally hearing it but by having a concrete sound as a reference.
Conclusions
In conclusion, there are many reasons to choose a way of scoring or another: choosing to orchestrate while composing, as in the case of Herrmann and Morricone, can be vital to have control over the texture and the concept of the score, to clearly decide the instrumentation to be adopted thus resulting in a more homogenous and fluent outcome, in a “non-dissipated” music. On the contrary, the choice of working with an orchestrator, as in the case of Goldsmith, Mancini or Elfman - can be crucial in speeding up the production process, filling the gaps in the modern composer’s knowledge or experience about orchestras or making a MIDI mockup playable by real musicians. If we take as a starting point the way composition for films was approached in Bernard Herrmann's days and what the role of composers is today, we can see that the whole process has gone through radical changes. In my experience I think that an oblique approach is needed here. The composer has to take into account the following factors, in order to decide whether or not he is going to orchestrate his own pieces. The first is the nature of the score, i.e. if it is a psychological movie – as in the case of Herrmann’s music – in which the choice of textures and instrumentation are closely linked to the overall effect on the audience. In this case the process of conceptualization of the score is intimate and personal, therefore calling for an individual orchestration that could hardly be assigned to another person. On the contrary, if the music is meant to be rather descriptive, as in the case of certain action films or those which contain a wide number of songs, where I find themes to be more important than gestures, I think that the orchestration can be successfully
assigned to another person, provided the sketches – using MIDI or not – are precise enough to leave but few alternatives to the orchestrator’s decisions. Another important factor, as I already mentioned, is budget and as a result - time and resources. This is in my opinion the ultimate point to consider when taking such a decision in a world like the one we are living in, where blockbusters rule the main income in film production economy: in this country, according to 2013 statistics, figures say that only the 8% of total box office income was generated by films outside the top 100, the lowest since 2004, while action movies are the most popular film genre standing at 27.7 % and mainly being produced in the USA – 30.6% against 22.9% being produced in the UK ( source: BFI Statistical Yearbook 2013). The assembly line approach then seems to be the dominant trend in film music production and shows the composer signing the score, but in fact being surrounded by a production team, with orchestrators, copyists, proofreaders, etc. It is my opinion that, as opposite to this major trend, the “Herrmann approach” can be maintained in the case of more intimate, psychological and more artistically rewarding scores.
References
Richard Davis, Complete Guide to Film Scoring , Berklee Press, 1999 Fred Karlin & Reyburn Wright, On The Track , Routledge, 2004 Steven C. Smith, A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann, University of California Press, 2002 Marvin Cooke, The Hollywood Film Music Reader , Oxford University Press, 2010
Websites
http://www.bfi.org.uk/ http://www.bernardherrmann.org/ http://www.oscars.org/
Bibliography
Paul Tonks, The Pocket Essential Film Music, Pocket Essentials Ed., 2003 Roy M. Pendergast , Film Music: A Neglected Art , W. W. Norton & Company, 1992 Andrea Pejrolo & Richard De Rosa, Acoustic and MIDI Orchestration for the Contemporary Composer , Focal Press, 2007 Walter Piston, Orchestration, W. W. Norton & Company, 1955 Alfredo Casella & Virgilio Mortari, The Technique of Contemporary Orchestration, Ricordi, 2004 Bernard Herrmann, Psycho complete score (manuscript), 1960 Nelson Riddle, Arranged by Nelson Riddle, Alfred Music, 1985
