Danny Elfman was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra in New York to basically compose whatever he wanted to compose. ‘Serenada Schizophrana’ is the result and it premiered at Carnegie Hall in February 2005 with Steven Sloane conducting.
One would expect to hear hints of “Psycho” in something called ‘Serenada Schizophrana.’
John Mauceri conducts this new album of the Serenada. The score was used as the soundtrack to the Imax film Deep Sea 3D. Elfman lists his influences as film composers Bernard Herrmann, Nino Rota, Dimitri Tiomkin, Max Steiner, and Erich Korngold. He also lists classical composers Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky, Bela Bartok, Dimitri Shostakovich, and Carl Orff as influences (interesting that Igor and Bela are names in that list). The Hermann references are very easy to spot.
One would expect to hear hints of “Psycho” in something called ‘Serenada Schizophrana.’ You can also hear hints of Elfman’s other works in it as well, but just as you’re about to start mentally singing “What’s this?” (or other works), he sends the notes in the opposite direction.
This may be done purposely to give you that schizophrenic feeling (at least that’s how I interpreted it). The booklet art by George Condo also has a dark feel to it; Charles Addams by way of Clive Barker was the vibe that I got. Elfman fans will be happy and he may get some classical crossover audience. Devilishly delightful.
‘Serenada Schizophrana’ is now available at Amazon . Visit the music database for more information and a complete track listing.
Your Talkback on this Story