Throughout June and July at Watershed

This year marks the centenary of film composer Bernard Herrmann's birth in June 1911.

Herrmann changed the way film music was thought of with groundbreaking scores for films like Hitchcock's Psycho and North By Northwest. His career spanned creative collaborations with Orson Welles on Citizen Kane to Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver.

He was one of the first composers to introduce electronics into composition with, for example, the use of the theremin in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Most recently his infectious sinister whistling tune from British B movie Twisted Nerve (1968) was reused by Tarantino in Kill Bill.

Mark Cosgrove, Watershed's Head of Programme said:

You may not be familiar with the name but you will certainly know some of his heart racing, tense, luscious atmospheric scores. Bernard Herrmann redefined how music could be used in film with such classics as Psycho and Vertigo and his influence can still be heard in contemporary cinema. We are delighted to be presenting this film season and partnering with other Bristol venues St. George's and The Cube on live music events to celebrate the centenary of this pioneering composer.

St George's Bristol will be welcoming the Tippett Quartet on 17 June to perform some of Herrmann's compositions, and The Cube are holding an event - The Greatness of the Magnificence, a music celebration of Bernard Hermann on 18 June. We will be hosting a season of films and events celebrating his brilliant body of work throughout June and July. Watch this space for more details as they are confirmed.

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