Hangover Square / 5 Fingers

Track Listing Legend:
* Previously Unreleased

For Hangover Square, Bernard Herrmann's task was to compose George Henry Bone's piano concerto. The resulting "Concerto Macabre" is a tour de force—the concerto had to accomplish many things, including beginning and ending with just piano, but it also had to portray the mind of its on-screen composer and his descent into madness. But the concerto is but one piece of Herrmann's musical tapestry in Hangover Square, and the rest of the score is as evocative and brilliant as the concerto.

5 Fingers was a 1952 spy picture directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Herrmann was once again the perfect choice for the film. His score conveys every bit of suspense and emotion, from the dramatic main title, to the jittery music for "Cicero," to the brief-but-beautiful cue "Romance," to the exciting music for "Escape." Much of the score almost seems like a preview of what Herrmann would go on to compose for his legendary series of films with director Alfred Hitchcock. It's a world-class score by a world-class composer.

Both 5 Fingers and Hangover Square were released in the Bernard Herrmann at Fox box set on Varese Sarabande. For that release, Hangover Square was a much-truncated presentation. But thanks to advances in technology and a couple of new sources we present it here with over sixteen additional minutes of music, and what music it is. While the source material for 5 Fingers was in excellent condition, the sources used for Hangover Square were not in as prime condition. Everything possible has been done to clean them up, but the music is so important we wanted to include every note we could. For this CD, Mike Matessino has gone back to the 5 Fingers elements and done a fresh new transfer, which sounds absolutely stunning, and he's done the same forHangover Square.

Limited to 1000 copies.