Dial 'H' for Hitchcock (A Psychological Thriller for Brass Band)

Dial ‘H’ for Hitchcock looks back to a golden era of cinema – and in particular a genre of film-making attributed to Sir Alfred Hitchcock, cinema’s peerless master of suspense and psychological thrillers. Scored like one of these film scores and divided into 22 colorful scenes, this thrilling work is full of drama, romance and suspense and including many references to what is happening in the plot.

Genre: Brass Band | # of Players: Srandard
Series: The Championship Series
Level: Advanced | Duration: 15:30

Instrumentation
Conductor's Full Score

Soprano Cornet
Solo Cornet 1 & 2
Solo Cornet 3 & 4
Repiano Cornet
2nd Cornet 1 (2)
2nd Cornet 2 (2)
3rd Cornet
Flugelhorn
Solo Horn
1st Horn
2nd Horn

1st Baritone
2nd Baritone
1st Trombone
2nd Trombone
Bass Trombone (+ optional large thunder tube)
1st Euphonium
2nd Euphonium
E-flat Bass 1
E-flat Bass 2
B-flat Bass 1
B-flat Bass 2

Timpani
Percussion 1: Tibetan Prayer Bowl, Large Orchestral Triangle, Snare Drum, Suspended Cymbal, Bass Drum, Wind Chimes, Tam-Tam, Xylophone, 3 om-Toms
Percussion 2: 2 Suspended Cymbals, 3 Tom-Toms, Tam-Tam, Triangle, Wind Chimes, Bass Drum, Siren
Percussion 3: Vibraphone, Orchestral Bass Drum, Crash Cymbals, Whip, Tam-Tam
Percussion 4: Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Tibetan Prayer Bowl, Tubular Bells, Woodblock, Tam-Tam, Bass Drum

Program Notes
Written and dedicated to Dr Robert Childs, Frédéric Théodoloz and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. The premiere of this work took place on 31 January 2016 at the Royal Northern College of Music Festival of Brass, Manchester, UK.

Dial ‘H’ for Hitchcock looks back to a golden era of cinema – and in particular a genre of film-making attributed to Sir Alfred Hitchcock, cinema’s peerless master of suspense and psychological thrillers. In this era, men were portrayed as rugged but morally weak, liquor was strong, and the lit cigarette was a compulsory accessory. The heroines were never weak, but independent, willfully strong-minded as well as seductive with perfect hour glass figures and usually with something to hide. The unexpected was around every corner. The were many great composers of the silver screen who wrote for Hitchcock including Miklós Rózsa, Maurice Jarre, Henry Mancini, Ron Goodwin, Dimitri Tiomkin and most notably Hollywood’s greatest film composer Bernard Herrmann who scored for Hitchcock: Psycho, North by Northwest, and Vertigo.

I have scored Dial `H’ for Hitchcock as if it were a Hitchcockesque film score full of drama, romance and suspense and including many references to what is happening in the plot. Each musical scene change is described using the title of a real-life film noir movie title from the past.

So sit back, pour yourself a Whiskey Sour on the rocks, light up a cigarette, and use your imagination!

– N.C.

SCENE TITLES
1. Danger Signal
2. Journey into Fear
3. Cry Danger
4. Pursued
5. Inside Job
6. Her Kind of Man
7. Without Warning
8. His Kind of Woman & Tight Spot
9. Night Without Sleep
10. Sudden Danger
11. Cause for Alarm
12. Kiss Me Deadly
13. The Come On
14. So Dark the Night
15. Sleep My Love
16. Leave Her to Heaven
17. Night Beat
18. Out of the Past
19. Dancing with Crime
20. Cry Vengeance
21. Unfaithfully Yours
22. The Verdict