The Storm Clouds Cantata (or Storm Cloud Cantata) is a cantata by the Australian composer Arthur Benjamin.
This cantata was written for the assassination scene in the Alfred Hitchcock 1934 film, The Man Who Knew Too Much, in the Royal Albert Hall. In the film version of 1934, the London Symphony Orchestra was directed by H. Wynn Reeves. In the 1956 version, however, the London Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Bernard Herrmann, the composer of new music for the remake, and the chorus is the Covent Garden Opera Chorus with soloist Barbara Howitt.
The cantata is 177 measures and runs 8âÂÂ9 minutes. It starts with a lento in three-quarter time in C major. Then begins the allegro agitato, characterized by rhythmic strokes of the timpani. The conclusion is presto.
The work is scored for SATB chorus plus a mezzo-soprano soloist, with an orchestra consisting of 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, 4 percussion (snare drum, bass drum, cymbals), organ, 2 harps, and strings.
The libretto of the cantata was written by D. B. Wyndham-Lewis. This appears to be his only actual contribution to the screenplay, although he is credited as co-author.
Soloist:
Chorus:
Soloist:
Chorus:
The singers perform in an alternation between male and female:
This last part is part of the poco crescendo played by the timpani to culminate in the Maestoso in the finale which ends with the cymbal crash in which the assassin shoots.
Neither the full nor the vocal score of the Storm Clouds Cantata has ever been published. A piano arrangement of the latter half of the work was published in 2014 in the collection Music From the Hitchcock Films.
A recording of the complete 1954 version [i.e. with Herrmann's embellishments] is included on the CD Elmer Bernstein conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Bernard Herrmann Film Scores - from Citizen Kane to Taxi Driver (1992).