Dial "H" for Hitchcock

Though I’m certain the music on these two discs have been repackaged many times by now, they are still my favorite two discs of music from the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Each disc has a great collection of main titles and extended suites of classic Hitchcock music performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic. The first is Dial M for Murder: A History of Hitchcock, which I informally refer to as the later film's disc. While it does contain the title track by Dmitri Tiomkin and some earlier pieces from the films Suspicion and Spellbound, on the whole it is concerned mostly with the films from the fifties and later. This disc also begins with the Charles Gounod’s “Funeral March of the Marionettes” which was used as the theme song for the TV program Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Great suites from Rebecca, North by Northwest, Marnie and Vertigo round out the proceedings, which also include the single best suite from Psycho that I’ve ever heard.

The second disc, like the first put out by Silva America, is titled To Catch a Thief: A History of Hitchcock II, and delivers more of the same. This time, however, I feel that the emphasis is more on early works, especially from Hitch’s British period, which include The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes. But the reality is it’s just as broad a mix, with suites that include Strangers on a Train, Lifeboat and The Trouble with Harry, as well as the title track. As with any collection like this, however, there are going to be glaring omissions. This, however, can be remedied by the addition of two other discs which I would like to tell you about.

The first is a set of four wonderfully extended suites of music, one of them not included on the two discs mentioned above. It is titled Digital Premier Recordings from the Films of Alfred Hitchcock and recorded by the Utah Symphony Orchestra. What is contained on this German disc by Colosseum is the only newly recorded suite for Notorious, by Roy Webb. In addition there are suites for Strangers on a Train and Suspicion that are much longer that their counterparts on the Silva discs, as well as what I think is the superior version of the end credits from John Williams' Family Plot.

The second disc was recorded by Lalo Schifrin with the San Diego Symphony Pops Orchestra. It’s called Hitchcock, Master of Mayhem, and contains the best suite from Franz Waxman's Rear Window on record. The other Hitchcock suites are less memorable than those on the Silva discs, but it also includes some Schifrin gems like a Dirty Harry suite and an opening theme from Bullitt that is better than the original. All in all, these four discs provide the best Hitchcock themes that are currently available and have my highest recommendation. Enjoy.