John Barry: The Man, the Movies, the Music

John Barry Conducts the English Chamber Orchestra at The Royal Albert Hall, Saturday, April 18th

by Gareth Bramley

This concert marked the first time the composer has conducted live for 25 years--save his tour of Tokyo in 1975--the previous performances bieng at the same venue in 1972 and 1973 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Barry first worked with the English Chamber Orchestra in 1991 when he recorded the score to Chaplin and since then he has used them on some of his other film soundtracks such as Across the Sea of Time, Cry the Beloved Country, The Scarlet Letter and his latest film score, Swept from the Sea (known in the U.K. as Amy Foster) which was made available in the U.K. by Decca Records just before the concert.

Barry's longtime friend Michael Caine introduced the maestro, explaining how he had become the first to hear "Goldfinger" (1964), and an overwhelmed Barry used this theme to open the proceedings. It was followed by a superb version of "We Have All the Time in the World," one of Barry's personal favorites which Louis Armstrong so admirably sang over the credits of the James Bond, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).

The composer had made it clear to the audience at the outset that he wanted to "have some fun" with this concert and both the conductor and his orchestra were able to demonstrate their enormous capabilities by providing an incredible and rousing version of the main title theme from Zulu (1964). This was followed by the popular theme from Somewhere in Time (1980) which Barry gracefully conducted together with "Moviola," the theme Barbra Streisand turned down from The Prince of Tides which Barry later used in the IMAX 3D film Across the Sea of Time (1995).

Barry introduced the audience to music from the small screen with the theme to The Persuaders (1971)--the performance was so good that you were instantly visualizing the opening credit sequence of Roger Moore and Tony Curtis whilst the music played. "This Way Mary" from Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) followed with a stunning solo violin from orchestra leader Paul Barritt; and Midnight Cowboy (1969) with a faultless harmonica solo from Tommy Morgan, who had flown in specially from Los Angeles.

Barry conducted three themes from his latest film, Amy Foster, and concluded the first half of the concert with an outstanding suite from the Oscar-winning score to Dances with Wolves, including "The John Dunbar Theme" (again featuring Tommy Morgan on harmonica), "Two Socks--The Wolf Theme," and a rousing version of "Pawnee Attack" (listed in the program as "Dawn Attack Parts 1 & 2" with its outstanding instrumentation.

Michael Caine returned to open the second half of the vening by presenting Barry with a copy of the plaque which had been erected by the local council on the side of the house of York, where Barry had been born and had lived until 1947. Barry then conducted the main theme from the film which won him two Oscars in 1966: Born Free. Tim Rice co-wrote "All Time High" for Octopussy in 1983 and Barry conducted the English Chamber Orchestra through a version of this tune which was slightly different from those previously heard, with an added couple of bars.

The main theme from Out of Africa--another Oscar winner, from 1985--followed, and David White played a superb sax solo on the ensuing Body Heat (1981). After Chaplin (1992), Barry introduced "Space March," an incidental cue from You Only Live Twice (1967), a typical Bond action cue with plenty of brass. This was followed by two '60s themes: a faithful rendition of The Ipcress File (1965), and the up-tempo theme from The Knack (1965), both popular with the audience.

To tie in with Barry's first concert in 25 years is his first non-soundtrack work since The Americans in 1975: The Beyondness of Things, recorded for Decca. The concert marked the premiere performance of four themes from this concept album: "The Beyondness of Things," "A Childhood Memory," "Give Me a Smile" and the lovely "The Heartlands," for which Tommy Morgan returned to play harmonica. The finale was the oustanding "James Bond Suite," with music from Dr. No ("The James Bond Theme") through Diamonds Are Forever (1971). The arrangement was, in fact, the same as that used in his previous concert performances.

No sooner had the final theme ended than Barry received a standing ovation from the packed-to-capacity crowd of 5,000. This continued uintil he came back to conduct "The Girl with the Sun in Her Hair" (1967), the theme he wrote to accompany the '60s Sunsilk shampoo TV commercials. The standing ovation was repeated and it was evident that the composer had perhaps underestimated his popular and was totally overwhelmed by the proceedings.

I have attended similar concerts conducted by John Williams, John Scott, Elmer Bernstein, Henry Mancini, Jerry Goldsmith, Michael Kamen and Ron Goodwin, but somehow this concert contained special magic. It was as if I was being transported in time, reliving memories from the past set to John Barry's fabulous musical themes. I seemed to be locked into the man and his music for a full two and a half hours without any lapse in concentation; the audience digested the composer's every thought and turned them all into something real.

It is surely impossible to find another composer/conductor--living or dead--matching up to John Barry's talents. It is very easy to see why John Barry is referred to as a "living legend."

The Beyondness of Things is John Barry's new album and, as the sleeve notes suggest, represents the composer's "dreams, memories and reflections beyond the norm." It is a musical journey as he relives his "visions past and present," setting them to music. This album marks the beginnings of a relationship with Decca Records, who have acquired the rights to his next three non-film projects, together with access to his "new" film scores--the first of which is the soundtrack album to Amy Foster (aka Swept from the Sea), released to coincide with the concert.

Send your comments: MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com