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Any good Elfman fan knows that Elfman sites Bernard Herrmann as one of his major influences. I’ve noticed several Herrmann homages throughout Elfman’s body of work:
Compare “Clown Dream” from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure to “The Nightmare” from Vertigo.
Compare the beginning of “Main Titles” from Batman to the beginning of Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Compare various moments in “End Credits” from Sommersby to various moments from Marnie.
The music from almost the entire train action sequence from Mission: Impossible sounds like Herrmann action music, just at a slightly faster tempo.
Also, Elfman’s score for Gus Van Sant’s Psycho sounds remarkably similar to Herrmann’s score for Hitchcock’s Psycho.
There’s a moment from DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (the name of the cue is slipping my mind) that Elfman qoutes in MEN IN BLACK (“Orion’s Belt”).
Ryan
“Also, Elfman’s score for Gus Van Sant’s Psycho sounds remarkably similar to Herrmann’s score for Hitchcock’s Psycho.”
In terms of Psycho, here’s an Elfman quote from the CD liner:
“Herrmann was my idol. The chance to adapt his work and hear it performed live was thrilling. My goal was to bring freshness to the score without straying from the impulses of the original and to record it with the energy that I believe Mr. Herrmann intended. It was really a once in a lifetime experience.”
So the similarities between Herrmann’s and Elfman’s scores were, of course, intentional; just as Van Sant was doing an adaptation of Hitchcock’s work, Elfman was doing an adaptation of Herrmann’s work.
That was meant as a joke. It was a bad one. I’m sorry.
As much as I love both Elfman and Herrmann, I was disappointed by the new Psycho score. It just seemed to be missing something.
It has been said countless times before but I will repeat it: What the hell was Van Sant thinking?
I thought Elfman’s recording of PSYCHO is the closest in capturing the original’s brash energy. No re-recording of PSYCHO has ever come as close.
Ryan
Yeah, and for anyone getting confused, pay attention to the main titles for the new Psycho:
Music by Bernard Herrmann
Music Produced and Adapted by Danny Elfman
Thank you
Knight (Who is also a big Herrmann fan)
Well, I can’t believe no one has noticed that the orchestral parts of the boingo song INSANITY is a theme from Vertigo, when we see the portrait in the museum…
Eric
Hey, I’ve noticed that. I just forgot.
There is certainly Herrmann influence in Elfman’s work, but the composer I believe Elfman channels most is Nino Rota. Listen to Rota’s music from the Fellini films, namely Il Casanova, Amarcord, and 8 1/2 (www.camoriginalsoundtracks.com). With the Pee-Wee scores, Elfman imitated Rota’s style without stealing.
Ryan, that Herrmann cue Elfman quotes in Men in Black is the Main Title from “Mysterious Island.”
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