Research Paper on "Life and Works of John Barry"

Research Paper 3 pages (1172 words) Sources: 7

[EXCERPT] . . . .

John Barry

"…Though much of his most famous music was written to accompany the outlandish adventures of 007, his work covered a huge variety of moods and styles…" (the Guardian, 2011).

Iconic composer John Barry is recognized as one of the most prolific and renowned person in the history of the movie industry. His credits are impressive and his legacy will live unendingly because the movies he wrote scores for will be available many years from now. The son of a classical pianist mother and a father who was owner of a number of movie theaters, Barry was born in York, England in November, 1933 (as John Barry Prendergast) and "…as a young child developed a strong proclivity for music," according to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He actually knew what he wanted to do when he was about 15 years old -- to be a film composer -- and while serving in the British Army he took correspondence courses on music composition and orchestration (Songwriters Hall of Fame, 2013).

Barry learned the trumpet and study classical piano but he also liked rock and roll and played in a band called "The John Barry Seven" (they had hit records including "Hit and Miss") (Beyond Chron, 2011).

John Barry's "…sweeping string sounds" in the Oscar-winning film "Dances With Wolves" won an Academy award for "Best Original Score" (Classic FM). The epic nature of this film by director Kevin Costner -- filmed in Wyoming and other vast expanses of the American west -- required music that fit that genre, and John Barry's composition was passionate and powerful (Classic FM, 2007).

The Academy Award for "Dances with Wolves" wasn't the only Oscar that Barry received. According to Beyond Chron he also won Oscars for "Out of Africa," "The Lion in Winter," and he won 2 Oscars for "Born Free." Barry went beyond making movie music in 1998 when he produced his "…first non-soundtrack album in 20 years, 'The Beyondness of Things,'" which was viewed by critics as nearly as good or better than his excellent film work (Billboard, 1999).

Barry was well-known for his music accompanying the James Bond series. In fact Barry scored 11of the James Bond movies. A few of the better-known movies he wrote music for -- in addition to the films previously mentioned -- include: "Body Heat"; "Cotton Club"; "Diamonds are Forever"; "From Russia with Love"; "Goldfinger"; "Indecent Proposal"; "King Kong"; "Moonraker"; and he also scored (Songwriters Hall of Fame).

The way that Barry actually got involved with the Bond themes was when London songwriter Monty Norman -- who had written "most of the score for 'Dr. No'" -- could not come up with the flashy sound that the produces wanted. The film company wanted "…a more exciting and possibly commercial sound, so they sought the services of a 28-year-old arranger-producer" whose name was John Barry (Biography in Context, 2012). David Arnold, who has composed many Bond themes subsequent to Barry's work, said "John Barry uniquely, single-handedly, created the spy genre of music" (Biography in Context).

Barry's career was helped along by a chance meeting he had with a singer named Adam Faith; he met Faith on the BBC television program "Six-Five Special" in 1957 (IMDB). It turns out that Faith had not had much success as a recording artist but when Barry helped Faith re-do the arrangement for Faith's song, "What Do You Want?" The song went to number one on the British charts and the careers of both men took off (IMDB). Barry… READ MORE

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