Bernard Herrmann

The Profile

Bernard Herrmann (1911–1975) was an American composer and conductor renowned for landmark film scores including Citizen Kane, Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho, with his final score for Taxi Driver. He worked at CBS in radio, contributed to Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds broadcast, and was noted for innovative use of instruments such as the theremin.

American film composer famed for collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles; composer of Psycho, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Citizen Kane, and Taxi Driver; associated with innovative orchestration and the theremin; active from the 1930s until his death in 1975.

One fervent review exalts Bernard Herrmann’s Taxi Driver score as essential to the film’s soul. It recalls his landmark work on Citizen Kane, Psycho, and Fahrenheit 451, plus his CBS radio era and the War of the Worlds broadcast. The piece highlights his experimental streak with the theremin and early electronic instruments. It notes Herrmann’s death in 1975 shortly after completing Taxi Driver. Overall tone: admiring and intense.