John Williams and Alfred Hitchcock

Synopsis

Unless you’re Tony Soprano, if your boss turns to you and says, “Murder can be fun,” the prudent reaction would be to: a) start looking for a new job, and b) wait for a discrete opportunity to call the police.

But in 1975, when Alfred Hitchcock made that statement to composer John Williams, Williams probably just nodded in agreement. After all, it was a great honor to be asked by Alfred Hitchcock to write music for what would turn out to be the last film completed by the famous Master of Suspense.

That film was Family Plot, and Williams completed its music for recording sessions at Universal Studios early in 1976. Williams recalled that the already-ailing Hitchcock stayed just an hour, pronounced the music “fine,” and said, “I’ll leave this to you,” before departing.

Now, film buffs will recall that Hitch, a notorious micro-manager, had abruptly fired composer Bernard Herrmann, his legendary former collaborator, during a recording session for his 1966 film Torn Curtain, when Hitchcock realized Herrmann had not followed his instructions for a trendy pop music score.

Family Plot was shown at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival but was not officially entered in the competition. Still, it’s ironic that on today’s date that year, the Festival’s top prize, the coveted Palme d’Or, was awarded to Taxi Driver, a film by Martin Scorsese, with — you guessed it — music by Bernard Herrmann.

Music Played in Today's Program

John Williams (b. 1932): Closing Credits music, from Family Plot; Utah Symphony Varese-Sarabande VCD-47225

On This Day

Births

• 1737 - American bandmaster and music publisher Josiah Flagg, in Woburn, Massachusetts. He organized the first militia band in Boston, published music engraved by Paul Revere, and in 1773 organized a Grand Concert at Boston’s Faneuil Hall involving 50 players, one of the first public concerts in America which presented European music.

• 1779 - Irish singer, poet and composer Thomas Moore, in Dublin

• 1841 - Italian composer, conductor and pianist Giovanni Sgambati, in Rome

• 1883 - English composer Sir George Dyson, in Halifax (Yorkshire)

• 1913 - Soviet composer Tikhon Khrennikov, in Elets (Gregorian date: June 10)

• 1923 - Hungarian composer György Ligeti, in Dicsöszentmartin (now Tirnaveni), Transylvania

Deaths

• 1787 - Leopold Mozart, composer, and Wolfgang's father, 67, in Salzburg

• 1805 - Italian composer Luigi Boccherini, 62, in Madrid

• 1836 - Czech composer Anton Reicha, 66, in Paris

Premieres

• 1608 - Monteverdi: opera Ariana, for a ducal wedding in Mantua. This opera now lost.

• 1904 - Puccini: Madama Butterfly (successful revised version), in Brescia. The opera’s original version, premiered on Feb. 17 at La Scala in Milan, was hissed.

• 1922 - Zemlinsky: opera Der Zwerg (The Dwarf), at the Cologne Opera

• 1938 - Hindemith: opera Mathis der Mahler, in Zurich at the Stadttheater, conducted by Robert Denzler

• 1966 - Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 11, in Leningrad, by the Beethoven Quartet

• 1993 - Stockhausen: opera Dienstag aus Licht (Tuesday from Light) at the Leipzig Opera

• 1993 - Michael Torke: Proverbs for female voice and ensemble, at the Milwaukee Museum of Art, by the Present Music ensemble, conducted by the composer