Dr. Jack Sullivan, professor of English and director of the American Studies Program at Rider University, will present a lecture focusing on the music in Alfred Hitchcock’s movies on Wednesday, November 11 from 7 to 8 p.m. in Talbott Library room 1 on the campus of Westminster Choir College of Rider University. The lecture will be based on Sullivan’s new book “Hitchcock’s Music,” published by Yale University Press. 

Widely known in literary circles for his books on musical culture and the ghost story as a literary form, Sullivan offers new insight into Alfred Hitchcock, whom many regard as the master of the suspense film.  His new book fully explores the essential role music played in Hitchcock’s movies.

“For half a century Alfred Hitchcock created films of gripping and memorable music,” said Sullivan.  “Over his long career, Hitchcock presided over more musical styles than any other director and ultimately changed how we think about film music.

“The terrifying string music for ‘Psycho’ and the electronic score for ‘The Birds’ are widely celebrated, but Hitchcock’s music also encompasses comedy, romance, melodrama, operetta, and many other genres; he used everything from Cole Porter to Wagner to capture emotions that could not be invoked by words or camera angles,” continued Sullivan.  “Many assume he needed music less than other directors, but he actually needed it more.”

Based on extensive interviews with composers, writers and actors, and research in rare archives, Sullivan examines how Hitchcock used music to influence the atmosphere, characterization, and even the storylines of his films.  He explores the director’s relationships with various composers, especially Bernard Herrmann, and tells the stories behind Hitchcock’s musical decisions.  He covers the director’s career, from early British works up to his final film, “Family Plot” (1976), where he enlisted John Williams as his final composer.

Sullivan’s most notable recent books are “New World Symphonies:  How American Culture Changed European Music” (Yale University Press, 1999) and “Words on Music” (Ohio University Press, 1990).  His earlier works include “The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural” (Viking/Penguin, 1986), which he edited, and his critically acclaimed “Elegant Nightmares: The English Ghoul Story from Le Fanu To Blackwood (1978),” in which he examined the works of several recognized masters of the ghost tale.  A companion volume, “Lost Souls” (1983), is a collection of English ghost stories with stories from practitioners of supernatural fiction.
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