The Day the Earth Stood Still

Movie soundtrack composer Bernard Herrmann (29 June, 1911 – 24 December, 1975) is probably best known for the scores he created for the films of Alfred Hitchcock, including the iconic musical theme that accompanied the dramatic murder-in-the-shower scene in Psycho (1960), which even today is hummed by any raconteur who wants to create a spooky atmosphere!

Never afraid to experiment with sound effects, he also oversaw the incredibly effective sound-scape in The Birds (1963) - there was no music as such in the film, only electronically created and eternally sinister bird sounds.

Hermmann's first Hollywood soundtrack, however, was for director Robert Wise's 1951 black and white science-fiction classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. Mixing more conventional orchestral instruments with Hammond organs, vibraphones and two theremins, as well as employing what were then considered unusual overdubbing and tape-reversal techniques, Hermmann created a ground breaking score, which was even recycled years later as the title theme in the original pilot episode for the original 1965 TV series Lost in Space.

Once again, as with Spellbound and The Lost Weekend, the theremin was performed by the absolute maestro of the instrument in those years, Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman, on this occasion joined by Paul Shure.