Music
Jerry Goldsmith’s ‘Psycho II’ Score Released
Available now for purchase is a deluxe soundtrack for the 1983 horror thriller Psycho II, which saw Anthony Perkins reprise his role as Norman Bates. Composed by Jerry Goldsmith, the CD features 31 tracks, including six bonus tracks and is released via Intrada. You can order your copy here.
Below is the trailer, cover, and full description courtesy of Intrada.
Intrada proudly presents eerie, terrifying original soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith from Richard Franklin follow-up to famed Alfred Hitchcock thriller about Norman Bates and those twelve vacancies at his Bates Motel. Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles reprise their iconic roles with newcomers Meg Tilly, Dennis Franz adding to suspense, chills.
Goldsmith takes sensational approach to horror tale by anchoring entire score not with scary theme but with incredibly gentle, minor key idea that generates significant amount of sympathy for Norman, his attempts to go straight after years in prison. That said, horrific events follow and composer launches riveting action material in kind. Orchestration is unique: requisite strings in tribute to classic Bernard Herrmann original play key role but composer adds array of colors courtesy piano, large woodwind section, synthesizer. Goldsmith tacets all brass save French horns, allowing the expressive instruments to rip, tear and bray through numerous frightening passages. An unusually intense additional color comes from wild “knife slashes” written into score. With all these sizeable shadings of sound, resulting music ranges from gently beautiful, hauntingly sad to wildly aggressive, strikingly intense.
Complete score presented in dynamic stereo courtesy multi-track session masters vaulted in pristine condition at Universal. For original 1982 album, Goldsmith did considerable editing within cues, dropped major sequences entirely to keep duration at a half hour. In some cases he also attached names of certain cues to others instead. Scoring session paperwork and cue sheets allowed us to properly identify everything for the first time.
Fun to discover Goldsmith wrote two separate sequences titled “Mothers Room”, “Mother’s Room #2” plus two additional alternate versions featuring different bells, chimes, electronic effects within. All four appear on our CD. Also fun to discover haunting “End Title” was originally scored with striking pizzicato strings that plucked rhythmic accompaniment to introduction of gentle theme. This unused alternate also appears on our CD in “extras” section.
Goldsmith also recorded two Beethoven piano excerpts at his sessions to be heard as Bates plays piano onscreen. Both also appear as extras, as does alternate version of “Peep Hole #2”. Highlights of new music are many but deserving spotlight are intense “Toomy’s Death”, stark two-part voicings of French horns during “Expected Guest”. Flipper cover allows listeners to select new artwork or original MCA album cover. Jerry Goldsmith conducts. Intrada Special Collection release available while quantities and interest remain!
AMC has announced that The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE, the standing-room-only performance celebrating AMC’s premiere of its newly-released The Vampire Lestat at New York City’s iconic Beacon Theatre last month, will debut on streaming.
The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE begins streaming on AMC+ on August 23.
Ahead of its streaming premiere, fans can preview the concert event, featuring original songs from series composer Daniel Hart and performed by Sam Reid, in Hall H at Comic Con International on July 24.
Our own Daniel Kurland attended the special event, highlighting how electric the Immortal Vampire is on stage: “It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.”
Based on Anne Rice‘s The Vampire Chronicles book series, The Vampire Lestat is the rock and roll-centric third season of AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” created by showrunner Rolin Jones.
The Vampire Lestat goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by “muses” from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rises, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population.
Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles and Jennifer Ehle star with Reid. Executive producers include Jones, Mark Johnson, Hannah Moscovitch, the late Anne Rice, and her son Christopher Rice.
The series finale airs this Sunday, July 19, on AMC and AMC+.
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