More of the Music of Bernard HerrmannThis is a BEAUTIFUL London Phase 4 LP with Very Little Sign of Play. It contains music from Hitchcock classics – “Psycho” “Marnie” “North by Northwest” “Vertigo” and “The Trouble With Harry”.
Bernard Herrmann released many LPs on London Phase 4, and this is one of the better ones.
Included are new recordings of scores to five Alfred Hitchcock films. Psycho opens the LP, and Herrmann has arranged the music into a 14 minute “Narrative For Orchestra.”
A 10 minute suite from Marnie follows, then the main theme from North by Northwest.
Side 2 starts with three selections from Vertigo and ends with “A Portrait of ‘Hitch,'” based on motifs from the score to The Trouble With Harry.
OLD PHASE 4 NOTES FROM A LONG TIME AGO
[Some of this we still agree with and some we do not, so take it for what it’s worth.]
Phase IV, Are You Serious?
Yes, absolutely. Allow me to make the case this way. Phase 4 has the life, dynamics, and deep articulate bass not found on most Golden Age recordings. There is no compression to speak of on the album, not on the best copies anyway.
Shaded Dogs may have sweeter strings and more Tubey Magic (which, as anyone who listens to live classical music knows, is mostly a euphonic coloration), but this recording sounds dramatically more like live music than most of them in every way other than soundstaging.
There are of course multiple mics being used, and sometimes they call attention to themselves, but for the most part the stage is wide and deep enough, and the mikes far enough from the orchestral sections, to create the illusion of a real orchestra in a hall.
The tympani at the back (along with most of the percussion) are especially convincing in this regard. On the copies with the most correct top ends, the triangles and bells are shockingly lifelike, sounding, to my “mind’s ear” exactly the way they do in the concert hall.
FURTHER READING
What to Listen For on Classical Records
Best Orchestral Performances with Top Quality Sound
Well Recorded Classical Albums – The Core Collection
Well Recorded Classical Albums from The Core Collection Available Now