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HITCHCOCK: Jack Sullivan and Me
HITCHCOCK
Jack Sullivan is director of American Studies and professor of English at Rider University. He has written1 a long overdue tribute to Alfred Hitchcock's musical perspicacity. Sullivan demonstrates Hitchcock’s uncanny ability to manipulate audiences not only with his striking, frightening images but also his adroit use of music, of all kinds, to heighten suspense, atmosphere and drama. He also knew when to employ silences or musical rests to maximum effect. Some of his most distinguished composers, such as Arthur Benjamin, credited him with being far more serious about music than any other director. Hitchcock was a cultured man. He had no formal music training yet was a fervent music-lover and keen concertgoer. Hitchcock came into my life in 1954 with Dial “M” For Murder. -Ron Price with thanks to 1Ian Lace’s review at Music Web International of Hitchcock's Music, Jack Sullivan, Yale University Press, 2006. You’d been going strong, Alfred, for thirty years before you came into my life with Dial “M” For Murder, with Psycho and The Birds, their gripping music & their memorable sounds, now lost in my memory bank from my childhood and teens when the winter of my own life was setting in early & new values1 had begun to capture my mind & imagination long ago Alfred. Over your long career2 you presided over more musical styles than any directors in history; ultimately you changed how we thought about film music, any film music--oh so clever. And thanks, Jack, for your discussion of Hitchcock’s music to influence the atmosphere, characterization and even storylines of his films.......Hitchcock’s relationships with composers: Bernard Herrmann, Dimitri Tiomkin, Maurice Jarr and Franz Waxman--achievement, a sign of genius; they changed the way we watched-listened to movies-yessiree. 1 The Bahá'í Faith 2 From his work on a film in 1921, The Lodger, to his last in 1976, Family Plot Ron Price 14 August 2009
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married for 48 years, a teacher for 32, a student for 18, a writer & editor for 16, and a Baha'i for 56(in 2015) |
Tags |
hitchcock, horror, memory, music, sullivan |
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