Covent Garden Sinfonia: Death and the Maiden

Made famous by the terrifying stabbing music accompanying the notorious shower scene, Herrmann’s soundtrack for Psycho was written for strings rather than full symphonic forces, mirroring the black-and-white cinematography of the film. Hitchcock himself said that ‘33% of the effect of Psycho was due to the music.’

1931’s Dracula, directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi, is still considered a definitive portrayal of the eponymous vampire. Philip Glass wrote his 1998 score for Dracula for the Kronos Quartet. Here it is expanded for string orchestra, with the addition of a piano, a part Glass played himself alongside the Kronos Quartet in live performances accompanying the film.

Though Mahler left what amounts to a complete arrangement of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden, he himself conducted only the second movement Andante con moto, at a concert in Hamburg in 1894.

His annotated score was given by the composer’s daughter to musicologist Donald Mitchell, who, together with composer David Matthews, created a performing edition of the full work.