John Barry: Difference between revisions

'''John Barry Pendergast''' (Nov. 3, 1933-Jan. 30, 2011) British film composer, probably best known for his work on the ''[[James Bond (Film)|James Bond]]'' films, where he composed for no fewer than ''12'' Bond films.

Started out with his own jazz combo "The John Barry Seven" in the late Fifties before getting into film composing when asked to arrange Monty Norman's theme for the first ''[[James Bond (Film)|James Bond]]'' movie ''[[Dr. No (Film)|Dr. No]]''. Stylistically, Barry's music tends toward the moody side, with extremely limited use of [[Fanfare]] (all but eliminating the brighter instruments in the orchestra in favor of deep undertones and rich, dark melodies). His most popular pieces consist of a lyrical theme accompanied by broken chords with a French horn countermelody. Because his music typically does not include [[Leitmotif|iconic themes]] (well, except for ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii1tc493bZM that]'' [[James Bond (Film)|one]]), some have accused his various film scores of being "interchangeable".

* Almost all of the ''[[James Bond (Film)|James Bond]]'' films, from ''[[From Russia With Love (Film)|From Russia With Love]]'' to ''[[The Living Daylights (Film)|The Living Daylights]]''.

** Exceptions: ''[[Live and Let Die (Film)|Live and Let Die]]'', ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (Film)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]'' and ''[[For Your Eyes Only (Film)|For Your Eyes Only]]''.

** [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000290/#composer The Internet Movie Database] lists Barry as an uncredited composer for ''[[Dr. No (Film)|Dr. No]]'' as well. A court ruling, however, awarded the credit for the Bond theme itself to Monty Norman.

* ''[[Howard the Duck (Film)|Howard the Duck]]''

* ''[[Dances With Wolves]]''

* ''[[Somewhere in Time (Film)|Somewhere in Time]]''