One Last Score - Bernard Herrmann and Taxi Driver

Available for over a year

Bernard Herrmann was one of the most legendary figures in 20th century film music. He is arguably best known for his work with Alfred Hitchcock, a relationship which began in 1955 with the Trouble With Harry, with iconic scores along the way including Psycho, Vertigo and North by Northwest, ending in dramatic fashion when the pair fell out over Hitchock's 1966 film Torn Curtain. Yet Herrmann's output goes beyond thrillers, encompassing romantic films with Jane Eyre, science fiction with The Day the Earth Stood Still, as well as fantasy classics like Jason and the Argonauts. As a composer whose first job in film was scoring Orson Welles's masterpiece Citizen Kane, few had a better front row seat for the huge changes in Hollywood over a 35-year period. Herrmann's very last score was for Martin Scorsese's gritty 1976 neo-noir film Taxi Driver starring Robert de Niro as cab driver Travis Bickle, whose mental state deteriorates as he works long nights in New York City. The score mixes many of Herrmann's classic elements including deep brass and dramatic percussion with an unforgettable jazz-tinged saxophone solo. In the 50th anniversary year of Taxi Driver, this Between the Ears tells the story of Herrmann's final masterpiece, from his return to Hollywood after years spent in film music wilderness, to his death less than 24 hours after he had finished recording. The programme mixes archive of Bernard Herrmann himself as well as Martin Scorsese and saxophone soloist Ronnie Lang with new interviews with Herrmann's wife Norma, his biographer Steven C. Smith, saxophonist John Harle, Taxi Driver producer Michael Phillips, composer Mica Levi and film critic Dana Stevens. Producer: Nick Taylor Sound engineer: Callum Lawrence For BBC Audio.