This was the music I grew up with - on vinyl, listening through headphones, and being stunned by how moving, evocative, and downright resourceful Barry was in his compositions. Beyond his remarkable talent for sheer melodic variety and power, he combined instruments and orchestra sections other composers might bristle at utilising - heavy on the brass one minute, sweet with the strings and some Mambo-based percussion the next. His themes were an absolute gift for vocalists (Shirley Bassey, Matt Monro, Tom Jones, and even Lulu all owed him a debt), but his instrumental scores were the reason film producers kept coming back for more. And you're right - there's something unmistakable about his touch. (Usually it's that distinctive major-to-minor chord shift prevalent in his work - perfect for evoking vast landscapes when accompanying, for example, aerial photography, but also more distant realms. One of my personal favourites is his soundtrack for Disney's The Black Hole which, along with You Only Live Twice and Moonraker, set the standard for portraying outer space as somewhere both majestic and threatening on film.)
David Arnold, the current Bond movie composer, and a huge fan of Barry (he originally got the 007 gig thanks to his album of reworked cover versions, "Shaken and Stirred", which Barry loved) paid a splendid tribute to his predecessor tonight on Channel 4 News. He made the point that these scores seemed to speak directly to the listener on a personal level, as all good music should, but hadn't realised how universal that response was until thousands of fellow fans told him the same thing when he took over the job.
David Arnold, the current Bond movie composer, and a huge fan of Barry (he originally got the 007 gig thanks to his album of reworked cover versions, "Shaken and Stirred", which Barry loved) paid a splendid tribute to his predecessor tonight on Channel 4 News. He made the point that these scores seemed to speak directly to the listener on a personal level, as all good music should, but hadn't realised how universal that response was until thousands of fellow fans told him the same thing when he took over the job.
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