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The basic ingredients of the score for Endless Night remain faithful to Herrmann's standard approach to romantic thrillers, though the ensemble is thankfully more robust than the one he had employed for The Night Digger the year before. The orchestra is unconventionally spread, utilizing six clarinets and four horns that are joined by oboe, harp, vibraphone, and harpsichord providing other singular accents against an otherwise conventional string section that is sometimes divided up into countless lines of action. Herrmann wanted a theremin for the creepiness factor, but none was available, so he ultimately used a Minimoog synthesizer instead, programmed for a similar sound. He liked its wailing capabilities so much that he continued its use in subsequent scores. In this case, it alternately carries the main theme while also contributing ambience to many of the non-thematic tracks and representing the warning about the curse on the property. The composer shows a musical sense of humor in "The Couch" by applying references to instruments seen accidentally hit on screen during the controversial sex scene, led by the piano. Generally, the suspense and anguish material indeed emulates his Hitchcock thriller scores, but these passages are not frequent. The more restrained approach to thematic handling previews Sisters and It's Alive in following years, though Endless Night contains an important on-screen use of original music relating to the score that makes its melodies more memorable. Since the heiress, Ellie, sings while playing a harpsichord, including for recordings, her theme in the score matches the song that she performs. This theme for Ellie emulates the song described in the novel as a sad lullaby, and Herrmann's interpretation of this directive is fascinating in how it applies his sound to the context. Using an obsessively repeated seven-note phrase that occurs four times at lowering tones in each instance, the theme has secondary phrasing that isn't as obvious, as the primary line really just dissolves; the phrasing is intentionally altered at times to create an ominous feeling of tension. The intervals in this theme are kept close as well, suggesting a lack of dynamism for the doomed character.

The compelling theme for Ellie in Endless Night debuts on the synthesizer at 0:18 into "Prelude" and defines the rest of the cue, fighting against swirling string lines that are typical to Herrmann suspense generally. It takes to the clarinet ensemble in "Ellie" for soft appeal with only hints of string suspense. More upbeat renditions include a plucky and playful moment in "The Newspaper" as it rotates through players, and the theme continues in lighter shades and meter during "The Seasons." The formal harpsichord duet with the vocals as diegetic music is heard in "Endless Night," and a vary faint mandolin presence is added in "Endless Night (Film Version With Mandolin)." The idea's chords inform the chopping panic early in "Death," and oboe carries the idea in lament later in the cue. After barely existing on ghostly vibraphone in the "The Return," the vocal returns with synthesizer, vibraphone, and clarinet in "The Song" while "The Fight/The Song (Original Version)" subtracts the vocals and substitutes the synth instead. After some appropriately dissonant torment against the anguish motif in "Breakdown," the Ellie theme is vocalized in more unencumbered form in "End Title" with a major key finale, and "End Title (Alternate Version With Moog)" again drops the vocals in favor of the synthesizer. The concert arrangement in "Endless Night (Vocalise)" is the highlight of the sole, 2020 album for the score, combining the "Prelude," "Endless Night," and "End Title" cues with synthetics and vocals for a great symphonic summary of highlights from the score. A separate theme for Gypsy's Acre, the idyllic location of the dream home in the story, is a whimsically pretty identity that marks some of the deception in the story. Previewed in truncated form and an ominous conclusion in "The Opening," this melody is fully expressed for the first time on oboe and clarinet in "The Balcony" while high string aspirations of fantasy follow in "Gypsy's Acre." It mingles with Ellie's theme in "Ellie" and appreciates a deeper depth to the strings in "Marriage," yielding a clarinet interlude. As the dreamy appeal of the property fades once the murders start happening in the second half of the story, this theme completely retreats from the music. It would have been nice to hear Herrmann deconstruct this identity to a greater degree.

Representing the (ultimately one-sided) romantic affair between the English man and heiress in Endless Night is a fake love theme for which Herrmann applies an intentionally troubled progression with an off note to keep it rooted in despair. Reportedly based upon an unreleased musical he wrote in 1968, this idea is developed initially in "Encounter" on strings over slightly atonal woodwind accompaniment and even more flowery in "Duo I" for lovely renditions throughout that cue. Overtaking the other material at the end of "Marriage" for a stark violin performance, the theme is provided a harp for more depth to its slower, moderated yearning in "Duo II." One last burst of optimism highlights the love theme in a full performance that's more tonally accessible in "Farewell." A motif for Greta, the assistant, is an ascending repeated phrase that isn't much of a theme but offers a false sense of hope. Heard in "Greta" in yet another deceptive expression of kindness and embrace (a warmer rendition used in the film is heard in "Greta (Film Version)"), this material is more restrained early in "The Gift/The Ride," muted on far lower tones in "Flashback II," and haunted early in "The Fight." Finally, an anguish motif is a typical Herrmann fanfare of glorious doom, opening "Prelude" with great force. A variant of this motif explodes at the end of "The Fight" and returns at the end of "The Song," but its original form starts "Breakdown" with more dissonant lines against its harrowing figures. On the whole, the score is highly effective at its task of conveying troubled romance and translates into a rather easy listening experience on album. The original recording has never been released, but a faithful 2019 re-recording was reconstructed from Herrmann's original manuscript for release on a 2020 Quartet Records product. The composer's collectors will appreciate such careful treatment. Composer Fernando Velázquez conducted, his second time with a Herrmann re-recording, and the work was performed well by the Basque National Orchestra, an original Moog synthesizer, and soprano female voice. The main program showcases music originally intended for some scenes that tracked or dialed out Herrmann's music. Alternate versions of cues were recorded to reflect various changes made for the film version. The sound quality is superb, as expected, providing impressive life to this creepy and somber Herrmann entry.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Total Time: 51:35