Robert Wise‘s 1951 film "The Day The Earth Stood Still" is notable for a few things, including being a stone cold sci-fi classic, and inspiring a pretty lame remake. But what you might have forgotten is that it boasts an early score from composing legend Bernard Hermann (probably best known for his frequent work for Alfred Hitchcock including "Vertigo"), one that to this day is pretty terrifically eerie. And part of that secret to the success is down to one instrument: the theremin.
The power of the interwebs has unearthed a six minute studio recording session focused solely on the aforementioned instrument. Dr. Samuel Hoffman and Paul Shure played the two electric theremins used on the soundtrack (it’s not clear) who was playing here, with the rest of the music rounded out by organs, vibraphones, glockenspiels, pianos, harps, trumpets, trombones, tubas and various percussion instruments. But it’s the theremin that really gets the hair standing on end. So take a trip down a musical memory lane and listen below. [Boing Boing]
