Bernard Herrmann - The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) Reels 1 & 2

Bernard Herrmann (born Max Herman; June 29, 1911 – December 24, 1975) was an American composer known for his work in composing for motion pictures. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers.

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From the movie The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) reels 1 & 2
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Reel 1
Part 1. Prelude. Allegro moderato (0:00)
Part 2. The Sea. Lento (2:03)

Reel 2
Part 1. The Painting. Lento (3:40)
Part 2. The Bedroom. Slow (5:21)
Part 3. Exit. Allegro vivace (6:24)
Part 4. Outside. Lento (audio not available)
Part 5. The Ghost. Slow (7:00)

Original soundtrack conducted by Bernard Herrmann.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is a 1947 American supernatural romantic fantasy film starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. It was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and is based on a 1945 novel written by Josephine Leslie under the pseudonym of R.A. Dick. In 1945, 20th Century Fox bought the film rights to the novel, published only in the United Kingdom at that time. It was shot entirely in California.

It was well known that The Ghost And Mrs. Muir was Herrmann’s favorite score. He was tasked with supporting a complex narrative, which operated on many levels. The story offered a passionate and I would say poetic commentary on the nature of life, death, love and loneliness. He loved England, the heroine, the romanticism and the spiritual purification gained once the spirit if freed of its corporeal existence. Indeed I believe this score to be Herrmann’s most romantic, one in which we are bathed in dreamlike auras of the restless sea and the haunting mystery of Gull Cottage. Remarkable about this score is that Herrmann employed leitmotifs, which he usually eschewed. He would often comment in subsequent years that this was his “Max Steiner” score.

Herrmann provided a multiplicity of themes, which include; the Sea Theme, which rises and falls like the waves of the sea itself, an endless cycle of turbulence and calm. Its rushing sixteen notes for woodwinds beautifully evoke its restlessness. The Gull Cottage Theme provides insight into Herrmann’s compositional gift. He offers a wondrous cantilena line in the upper register, which is accompanied by a stirring arpeggio of harp and woodwinds. Lucy’s Theme serves as her identity. Herrmann captures her emotional core, which is beautifully articulated with strings doloroso. The Captain’s Theme offers three notes, crowned with an ascending seventh. It initially has a mysterious, otherworldly sound, which perfectly captures his spectral nature. Most interesting however is that Lucy humanizes him and captivates his affections. Herrmann reflects this transformation from the Captain to Daniel with a new warm and romantic molto expressivo rendering of his theme. Miles Theme serves as the identity of her duplicitous suitor. The theme is gentile and beautifully carried by shifting phrases by woodwinds and then strings, which belie his true nature. This juxtaposition was well conceived and serves to make Lucy’s discovery, of his secret married life more shattering. The Love Theme provides a stirring confluence of woodwinds strings and harp, which for me offers one of the most romantic themes Herrmann ever wrote. Note worthy is that it is kindred in expression to Lucy’s Theme, for which it flows to and fro seamlessly. Lastly we have the Sea Shanty Theme, a nautical sounding tune, which supports both the Captain as a seaman, as well as his tales.
Read more here about the score:
https://moviemusicuk.us/2016/10/31/th...