The Twin Cities is where Bernard Herrmann composed much of his only opera, Wuthering Heights.

His first wife, Lucille Fletcher (Lucy I), was an accomplished writer and penned the Wuthering Heights libretto. They met in New York while both worked at CBS, Herrmann the chief conductor of the CBS Symphony, and married in 1939. However, the marriage soured in part because of Herrmann’s relationship with Kathy Lucille Anderson (Lucy II). And here’s where it gets complicated. Herrmann and Fletcher divorced in 1948 and he headed for Minneapolis, where Lucy II was living. While here, Dimitri Mitropoulos arranged for a studio at WCCO Radio where Herrmann composed Wuthering Heights, at one point saying it would be his greatest artistic achievement. Mitropoulos and Herrmann were friends and Mitropoulos was in town as the Music Director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (now Minnesota Orchestra). So while in Minneapolis, Herrmann was setting to music Lucy I’s libretto while he was spending time with Lucy II. Writing a gothic romance opera, Bernard Herrmann was living one himself. Lucy II was also the cousin of Lucy I, ten years her junior.

Lucy II and Herrmann married in 1949, a relationship that lasted until 1964. His breakup with Lucy II roughly coincided with his split with Alfred Hitchcock.