Psycho Symphony: San Francisco Orchestra to Perform with Hitchcock Film

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho film. This Saturday, the San Francisco Symphony will be performing live along with a presentation of the film.

Psycho, made in 1960, was adapted from the novel by Robert Bloch which barred the same name. The movie tells a twisted tale of a secretary named Marion, who, after embezzling money from her employer, is on the lamb from authorities. After checking in to the Bates Motel she has a run-in with the hotel proprietor, Norman Bates. He invites her to dinner and from there begins the perverse story of the aftermath of their encounter. Psycho is widely acknowledged as one of Hitchcock’s best motion pictures and is an iconic film in cinema history. The infamous shower scene is a classic horror moment and has been repeatedly spoofed in a multitude of movies and television shows.

The score of Psycho was written by Bernard Hermann. He is also known for his work on Citizen Kane and Taxi Driver as well as his achievements on other Hitchcock films, including North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo. A lowered budget for Psycho left Hermann with limited capabilities with the soundtrack. He opted to use a string orchestra over a full symphonic orchestra, giving Psycho its signature sound. The score of the film added such a thrilling and heart pounding effect to the motion picture that Hitchcock was quoted as saying, “33% of the effect of Psycho was due to the music”. 

The “Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho with the San Francisco Symphony” event will take place on July 17, 2010 commencing at 8:00pm at Davis Symphony Hall. Tickets are availability on the San Francisco Symphony website.