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The Film Scores Of Bernard Herrmann

Box Set, 7 CD

Bernard Herrmann Format: Audio CD

Editorial Reviews

To celebrate the composer's 110th birthday, Bernard Herrmann's complete film score recordings, made for Phase 4 Stereo, is being released. All albums have been remastered at 24bit 96kHz from the original analogue master tapes. 7 CDs presented in original sleeves and programming. Featuring his classic scores for the Hitchcock films Psycho, Vertigo, North By Northwest, Marnie, and others.

Product details

  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.12 x 5.12 x 0.79 inches; 1.4 Pounds
  • Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Deutsche Grammophon
  • Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 2021
  • Date First Available ‏ : ‎ April 9, 2021
  • Label ‏ : ‎ Deutsche Grammophon
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09242ZMBT
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 7
  • Customer Reviews:

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
202 global ratings
Brilliant!
5 Stars
Brilliant!
I have been a fan of Bernard Herrmann's film scores and career since I first watched several of Alfred Hitchcock's movies and have wanted something that covered his career and this set, marking what would have been his 110th birthday, is perfect! The sound quality is amazing on my system and I love the artwork. Each CD comes in a reproduction of the vinyl releases with a booklet that lists the tracks along with an essay about Herrmann and his career. All of it is housed in a neat little box that feels well constructed. Highly recommend to any fan of this master of suspenseful music.
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Top reviews from the United States

CTM
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Bernard Herrman Collection!
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2022
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Absolutely awesome Bernard Herrmann CD collection on Phase 4 Stereo on original Decca label. This magnificent 7 CD boxed set includes some of the best music conducted by the great film composer, Bernard Herrmann. From great movie thrillers directed by Alfred Hitchcock to great film classics, including Obsession, and music from great Shakespearean films as well.
A wonderful booklet is included full of informational notes. I previously owned 6 out of the 7 albums included in vinyl LP form on London Phase 4 years ago, but let them go. I am absolutely thrilled to have them again on the original Decca label, on fantastic sounding CD's, as well as another, showcasing Herrmann's indelible and creative conducting, ie: Bernard Herrmann Conducts Great British Film Music. Anyone who is a Bernard Herrmann junkie like myself should definitely own this superb collection! A definite MUST for avid fans of great motion picture scores! 5 stars!
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B. Jay Snider
5.0 out of 5 stars An essential cd set for any Bernard Herrmann fan
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2021
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A wonderful essential cd set . The sound is great. I already had most of these cd's purchased individually over many years. In fact , I actually had some of the original LP's when they first came out. The original LP jackets are a nice touch along with the liner notes even if a magnifying glass is required to read. It is great to have all these recordings in one box set. My only criticism( and it should not be a deterrent from buying) is that there is no CD Text on these discs. Other than that, I think any Herrmann fan should purchase this set before it becomes unavailable. I might add that Amazon has a good price too. A nice informative booklet is included.
4 people found this helpful
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K. Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2021
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I have been a fan of Bernard Herrmann's film scores and career since I first watched several of Alfred Hitchcock's movies and have wanted something that covered his career and this set, marking what would have been his 110th birthday, is perfect! The sound quality is amazing on my system and I love the artwork. Each CD comes in a reproduction of the vinyl releases with a booklet that lists the tracks along with an essay about Herrmann and his career. All of it is housed in a neat little box that feels well constructed. Highly recommend to any fan of this master of suspenseful music.
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K. Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2021
I have been a fan of Bernard Herrmann's film scores and career since I first watched several of Alfred Hitchcock's movies and have wanted something that covered his career and this set, marking what would have been his 110th birthday, is perfect! The sound quality is amazing on my system and I love the artwork. Each CD comes in a reproduction of the vinyl releases with a booklet that lists the tracks along with an essay about Herrmann and his career. All of it is housed in a neat little box that feels well constructed. Highly recommend to any fan of this master of suspenseful music.
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TRO
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Hermann! Wonderful Conducting and Performance!
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2014
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One day, in the early 1960's, a professorial-looking older man with with wildly scattered salt and pepper hair, wearing a rumpled gray suit and black horn-rimmed glasses, walked into the record store I was managing in Studio City and asked for a recording of Richard Strauss' "Metamorphosen", conducted by Otto Klemperer. I told him that we had that recording in stock and also recommended another "much better" performance by Hermann Scherchen. He asked why I thought this performance was better and I offered to play both of the records for him, so he could decide for himself.

After listening to selections from both recordings, he agreed that the Scherchen might be a shade better. However, the Klemperer was, in some ways, superior. He asked me to play the Klemperer again and showed me what he meant. I had to agree with him and asked if he was a music teacher or something. He answered that he didn't have the patience to be a good teacher; that he was "too much of a task-master". He said that he would buy both recordings and, just before he left, introduced himself as Bernard Hermann!

Hermann became one of my regular customers and, before he bought a recording, always asked my opinion. We then compared our choices and he often bought both recordings. Contrary to what maestro Hermann originally told me, he proved to be an excellent teacher!

Bernard Hermann was also an excellent composer and conductor.

I am a long-time devotee of "good" film music and still prefer the more romantic styles of Eric Wolfgang Korngold, Miklos Rosza, Max Steiner, John Williams and others to Hermann's more "abstract" style.

I think, unlike the composers I mentioned, it's difficult to appreciate Hermann's music "out-of-context", the "context" obviously being the film for which it was written. Take what is perhaps his most well known piece - the "shower scene" from Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho". There's absolutely no question that Hermann's music was mostly responsible the emotional impact of that frightening scene. However, if one who has never seen the film listens to the music I doubt that it would make sense and, lacking this vital perspective, one might find (and reject) it as disturbing and unpleasant!

"Vertigo" and "Fahrenheit 451" have long been two of my favorite films and much of their appeal stems from Hermann's hauntingly beautiful scores.I purchased this CD mainly for "Vertigo: Suite: III. Scène D'Amour" and what appears to be the complete suite of music from "Fahrenheit 451" .

In total, this album comes closest to a representative sampling of Hermann's best work. Esa-Pekka Salonen's interpretations are perhaps definitive and the playing and sound of the orchestra is marvelous!

If that's not enough to interest you in purchasing this recording: when you buy the CD, you can download the MP3 album for free!
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Marklee
5.0 out of 5 stars A CLASSIC SET
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2022
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This is a great remaster with sound that will please buyers who have the original LPs or subsequent older CD releases. I have the same vintage JBL L65 speakers in a 5.1 system that I used to listen to the original records. These CDs decode nicely to Dolby Pro Logic II. The package arrived in good shape from Germany. And sooner than expected. Get them while you can. Well worth the $$.
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Raymond Benson
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous collection of remastered music!
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2021
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Fans of Bernard Herrmann will likely know at least a few of the seven albums that are contained in this box set. That said, each one has been beautifully remastered and they sound GREAT. The "Fantasy Film World" disk is truly exceptional and is my favorite in the collection. I was unfamiliar with the two disks that Herrmann conducts (but did not compose), and I was very impressed with them (the Shakespeare films and the Classic British Films). This is a must-have for Herrmann fans.
4 people found this helpful
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Daniel C.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great recordings!
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2021
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Very nice reproductive work on the phase 4 product. Highlights some of the finest works of Bernard Herrmann recordings under this label. The audio range is impressive but will never match the vinyl recordings. Packaging is wonderful all of the original LP covers (with the exception of the disc "The Mysterious world of Bernard Herrmann") My only regret is that there was other phase 4 recordings with Herrmann as conductor that was not included in this set, like: The Impressionists and Holst; The Planets.
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Raldreet
5.0 out of 5 stars Todo fanático de Bernard Herrmann debe de tenerlo
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2021
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El diseño del Boxset está genial (dentro de la caja, el arte de los discos y sus contenedores son iguales a los de los acetatos originales). Por otra parte, la calidad de la música es superior a la de las versiones anteriores digitalizadas. Tengo varios de los discos incluidos en esta nueva edición pero de la Colección Decca Eloquence y la calidad es mucho mejor. Vale mucho la pena: todo fan de Herrmann y Hitchcock deben de tenerlo.
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Raldreet
5.0 out of 5 stars Todo fanático de Bernard Herrmann debe de tenerlo
Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2021
El diseño del Boxset está genial (dentro de la caja, el arte de los discos y sus contenedores son iguales a los de los acetatos originales). Por otra parte, la calidad de la música es superior a la de las versiones anteriores digitalizadas. Tengo varios de los discos incluidos en esta nueva edición pero de la Colección Decca Eloquence y la calidad es mucho mejor. Vale mucho la pena: todo fan de Herrmann y Hitchcock deben de tenerlo.
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Dennis Senger
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the great film composers of memorable films and a bargain to boot
Reviewed in Canada on April 29, 2022
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This is a spectacular find and a bargain to boot. Herrmann composed some of the most memorable film scores of the 20th century and was Alfred Hitchcock's composer for many of his well known films. Hearing them again off of CD instead of vinyl is a treat and the sonics that were done in the Phase4 process are a joy to the ears and the brain and the imagination. You can just smile as you hear why the music was so integral to the feel of the movie while it was up on the big screen.
I understand that Herrmann took the scores and conducted them to be heard as if you were at live concert, not in the movie theatre and, in that respect, it was a brilliant decision.
If you were swept away by his scores or held motionless as you focused on the screen, then this set is worth more than the price of admission.
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Jess OMBRIERE
5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT !
Reviewed in France on June 7, 2022
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Superbe coffret ! Grand beau son Decca. Présentation très soignée. Un régal !
De belles découvertes pour ce qui est des partitions dont Hermann n'est pas l'auteur.
Quant aux grands classiques composés par le Maître pour Hitckock, saluons rétrospectivement la performance de Esa Peka Salonen, qui (dans un superbe album paru il y a quelques années) menait au triomphe ses troupe du Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Ici, dans ce coffret, Hermann lui-même fait aussi bien (!!!) à la tête du Royal Philharmonic. Ce n'est pas peu dire : comme quoi, le grand compositeur était aussi un superbe chef.
Magnifique et prenant. A acquérir sans hésitation !
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R. J. Muirhead
5.0 out of 5 stars Hi Fi Heaven
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 18, 2022
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Another excellent CD boxset featuring phase 4 stereo releases of classic film soundtracks. First class quality recording at a great price!
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Fernando Lopez Vargas-Machuca
5.0 out of 5 stars Soberbia e indispensable recuperación
Reviewed in Spain on July 31, 2021
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Esta edición, pese a tener ya todo ese material en CD, me hace muchísima ilusión, porque ahora cada disco aparece con su carátulas originales -delanteras y traseras- y el sonido ha sido reprocesado 24bit 96kHz. Me refiero a una caja que contiene los siete álbumes de música de cine que Bernard Herrmann grabó entre 1968 y 1975 para la serie Phase 4 Stereo: cuatro con música propia -amplias selecciones de sus más importantes bandas sonoras-, dos con partituras de otros compositores -incluidos Walton, Shostakovich y Rózsa -y finalmente la banda sonora original de la película de Brian de Palma Obsession, esta última con los treinta y nueve minutos originales -aún tengo ese vinilo- y no con los setenta y cuatro con que fue reeditada en 2015.

No tengo tiempo para extenderme. La calidad media de la música es extraordinaria, muy particularmente la de Great Movie Thrillers -volumen dedicado a Hitchcock- y Great Film Classics, por no hablar de las contribuciones del neoyorkino al cine fantástico. La London Philharmonic y la National Philharmonic rinden estupendamente. La batuta de Herrmann, por su parte, a veces ha sido muy discutida por la lentitud de los tempi, a veces muy considerable si comparamos con lo que él mismo había propuesto desde el podio en las correspondientes bandas sonoras originales. A mí la dirección en todos los casos me parece sensacional, incluso reveladora.

El sonido. Ya saben ustedes que Phase 4 Stereo buscaba la espectacularidad por encima de cualquier otra circunstancia, amplificando de manera artificial los solos instrumentales para ponerlos en primer plano y buscando llamativos efectos estereofónicos con la percusión, también en primerísimo plano. Gustaba mucho en una época en la que por fin la mayor parte de la población empezaba a conocer la estereofonía en casa, pero hoy día convence poco cuando de repertorio sinfónico tradicional se trata. Así las cosas, en estos álbumes se aprecian diferencia: aquellos que incluyen músicas de perfil sinfónico tradicional decepcionan relativamente por su artificiosidad, mientras que aquellos que recogen partituras en las que Herrmann había jugado con plantillas no tradicionales e incluso había requerido la amplificación artificial, fundamentalmente las escritas para las películas de aventura y fantasía, las cosas funcionan a pedir boca: es así como el compositor quería que se escuchasen.

El nuevo reprocesado no diré que sea revelador, pero sí que ha mejorado sensiblemente las anteriores encarnaciones en compacto. He ido realizando breves comparaciones disco a disco -los siete- y se aprecia ahora bastante más presencia, relieve e inmediatez. En algunos, también mayor limpieza. Las breves notas de Tom Schneller están bien, pero las más interesantes son las originales del propio Herrmann y de Christopher Palmer, que se incluían en los vinilos originales y ahora podrá leer quien tenga una lupa. Menos es nada.

¿Defectos? Que se hayan dejado fuera los discos que Herrmann grabó de música clásica para el mismo sello (¡auténticas maravillas!) y que Obsession no aparezca completa. Por lo demás, una cajita total y absolutamente indispensable.
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Mika Koch
5.0 out of 5 stars 2 gute Gründe ...
Reviewed in Germany on February 22, 2017
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diese cd zu erwerben. Diesen liegen zunächst wiederum zwei Möglichkeiten zu Grunde. Diese wären a. sich mit dem Repertoire von Herrmann vertraut machen zu wollen oder b. die Sammlung von Interpretationen von Herrmanns Musik ausbauen zu wollen. In beiden Fällen lohnt der Kauf.Und egal welche dieser beiden Motive dem Kauf zugrunde liegt sehe ich zwei gute Gründe warum sich dieses Werk lohnt obwohl! es schon verschiedene andere Versionen gibt. Für die/den Interessierten ein kurzer Überblick , da ich mir schon die meisten der existenten Versionen dieser Musik zu Gemüte geführt hab. Der eine gute Grund ist, dass dieses hier schlicht die beste Zusammenfassung von Herrmanns großartigsten Kompositionen für den Film ist. Natürlich ist es auch wertvoll die kompletten Soundtracks jeweils zu haben. Aber ich würde unterschreiben, dass hier die größten Momente versammelt sind. Der zweite Grund ist etwas subjektiver und liegt an der Art der Interpretation , die einen deutlichen Unterschied zu andren erwerblichen Versionen aufweist. Man hat die Wahl zwischen einigen Originalsoundtracks, die jeweils mehr oder weniger gut aufgearbeitet vertrieben werden oder Versionen von z. B. Elmer Bernstein ,Joel Mc Neely mit dem Royal Scottish National Orchestra oder William Stromberg mit den Moskauer Symphonikern. Die kompletten Soundtracks von Vertigo , Psycho und Marnie sind
von Joel Mc Neely wohl die Referenz. Stromberg hat eine tolle Version von Fahrenheit 451 gemacht. Außerdem gibt es die von Herrmann selbst
dirigierten Versionen aus den siebzigern auf den Decca Phase 4 recordings(auch schon rar). Dennoch dringt niemand tiefer in Herrmanns dringlichste musikalische Momente ein als Pekka Salonen. Seinen Interpretation hebt Herrmanns fantastisch arrangierte Musik auf den ganz hohen konzertanten Podest. Und sie hat dieses verdient, besonders wenn man sie für sich stehend bewerten kann und nicht dem Standard Repertoire der Klassik hinzuzwingen möchte. Salonens Interpretationen weisen große Unterschiede im Tempo auf . Beispielsweise
beginnt die Vertigo Prelude fast "erschreckend" schnell wenn man sie anders kennt. Dennoch sind es gerade die langsamen filigranen Momente
in denene Salonen besonders überzeugt. Seine Versionen wringen die langsamen Passagen förmlich aus. Eine mutige Tempowahl die der Aura
dieser ganz besonderen Herrmannstücke absolut zuspielt und damit definitive Versionen schafft ,die Konzertvorhänge in eine imaginäre
Unendlichkeit eröffnen . Auch klangtechnisch gibt es keine besseren Versionen dieser Kult Kinomusik, die sich in ihrer individuellen Genialität
vor keiner Form der Hochkultur ducken müsste sondern als etwas völlig für sich stehendes glänzt.
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