Abstract

In Vertigo (1958), director Alfred Hitchcock repeatedly employs the motif of mirrors and spirals, both literal and figurative. This essay first traces how these motifs informed Bernard Herrmann’s approach to scoring the film, then offers a closer analysis of Herrmann’s iconic Prelude, arguing that Herrmann’s music foreshadows narrative events.

The text of this article is only available as a PDF.
Copyright 2013 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
2013
You do not currently have access to this content.