John Barry: Bond and Beyond
John Barry has been at the very pinnacle of his profession over forty years, since his early days playing jazz with the John Barry Seven, and his first film score - Beat Girl - in 1959. During his career, Barry's music has become some of the most well-known and successful ever written for the cinema. When you think of the legendary scores Barry has composed for legendary movies, his talent and brilliant becomes clear: Zulu, The Ipcress File, The Knack, Born Free, The Lion in Winter, Midnight Cowboy, Mary Queen of Scots, Somewhere In Time, Body Heat and, more recently, Out of Africa, Dances With Wolves and Chaplin.
I had the privilege of attending John Barry's "Bond and Beyond" concert at Symphony Hall in Birmingham on 21 April 1999, surely one of the greatest classical concert venues in the UK. The day had already been a long and arduous one when I arrived in Birmingham and, upon meeting up with my fellow concert-goers, Messrs. James Southall and Tom Daish, we went on to one of the West Midlands' more high-class eating establishments, the world-renowned "Hooters". The staff therein were every bit as friendly and appealing as they always are, and although Tom's moules had a nasty habit of escaping from the confines of his plate, we nevertheless enjoyed a fun-filled hour of interesting and stimulating conversation, fine beverages and excellent cuisine.
Having been thoroughly fed and watered, Symphony Hall beckoned, along with the promise of an evening of wonderful music. The hall itself is truly magnificent inside: although the outer area looks like it was designed by a Lego aficionado, the inside is marvellous. The entire building is designed to enhance the acoustic effect, and the polished wood floor and ergonomically sculpted chairs did the business throughout the evening. As the hall darkened and a little dry ice began to escape from the upper reaches of the stage's backdrop, Barry himself appeared, to rapturous applause. With hardly a moment's hesitation, Barry turned to face the English Chamber Orchestra and launched into a full-throttle rendition of Goldfinger. As it filled the hall, a huge grin appeared on my face - something which would remain there for the next three hours or so.
It struck me that Barry himself is starting to look a little old, and he addresses the audience in something of a croaky whisper - the legacy of the oesophagus operation in 1988 which kept him away from the podium for almost two years. Dressed simply in a white shirt and black waistcoat, Barry belies his superficial frailty by putting every part of his heart and soul into his conducting efforts. Although I am certainly no authority on conductors and conducting techniques, it strikes me that Barry has developed a somewhat unorthodox style over the years. In fact, when he wasn't shaking around and seemingly dancing and swaying to the more up-tempo numbers, he was nodding his head and flapping his elbows up and down in a manner reminiscent of a chicken, an illusion made all the more amusing by the sleeves of his shirt, which were just a little too big for his remarkably thin arms. The thing which more than made up for his shortcomings was his obvious love for the music, his rapport with the orchestra, and the fact that he seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.
After Goldfinger, the next few tracks were rattled off in quick succession: the lush "We Have All The Time In The World" from On Her Majesty's Secret Service; an incredibly powerful rendition of Zulu, which seemed to have the timpani player John Chimes in raptures; a romantic refrain of Somewhere In Time, and a performance of Moviola, the theme which was originally intended to be used for the film The Prince of Tides until Barbra Streisand unceremoniously sacked him. The music from Midnight Cowboy included a solo harmonica performance from the legendary Tommy Morgan, arguably one of the world's finest virtuoso mouth organists. Morgan, who has worked with Barry and other composers on many films over the years, would re-appear regularly throughout the evening to add his unique, home-spun sound to Barry's delicate themes.
The first half of the concert was rounded off by the sublime Chaplin, the massive "Space March" from You Only Live Twice, a superb alto sax solo from David White on Body Heat, and an extended six-part performance of all the major themes from Dances With Wolves, a score which will probably always remain my favourite Barry score, and which almost had me in tears when the first full rendition of the John Dunbar Theme kicked in.
During the interval, the three of us were approached by a young man who had overheard us talking about Summon The Heroes, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, "Gabriel's Oboe" from The Mission and whether or not Barry should have used the Moviola arrangements of his scores for the concert. The young man was Richard May, a member of the FILMUS Internet film music discussion list. He said that only a trio of soundtrack fans would be having that kind of conversation. Thanks, Richard. I think...
The second half began with Born Free, "All Time High" from Octopussy and another one of my favourites, Out of Africa, before the highlights of the evening were performed. Barry had chosen this concert for the British performance premiere of his two latest works: the Chet Baker-inspired jazz from Playing By Heart, and the beautiful classical piece The Beyondness of Things. Two tracks from Playing By Heart were performed, and both featured wonderfully mellow trumpet solos from the young American performer Chris Botti, who had flown in from Los Angeles for the event. Botti, who looks far too young and clean-cut to be a jazz musician, has performed with such legendary acts as Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan, and latterly accompanied Paul Simon on his world tour. For the two tracks - "Remembering Chet" and "Vows Renewed" - Botti played flawlessly and smoothly, giving Barry's lush string work a sultry, decadent, yet gritty edge.
The Beyondness of Things has got its admirers and its detractors, some of whom say it is too derivative of Barry's familiar film work. I just think it's gorgeous. He played five tracks from the album, all of which featured Barry's long-lined, lustrous string themes, mellow bass countermelody, bold brass themes and, in one or two of the tracks, Tommy Morgan's harmonica again. The best of the five is arguably massive "A Childhood Melody", which builds to enormous proportions and finishes with a gossamer rendition of the old nursery rhyme "Nick Nack Paddywhack".
The conclusion of the evening's entertainment was an elongated suite of music from his most famous musical creations, the James Bond movies. With the orchestra enveloped in blood-red lighting, the legendary pulse-pounding, noirish James Bond theme echoed round the hall, followed by lush orchestral arrangements of From Russia With Love, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, the 007 travelling theme, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Diamonds Are Forever.
After several endless standing ovations and an encore of his classic theme "The Girl With The Sun In Her Hair", Barry left the stage to prepare for his next two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall (which subsequently took place on 23rd and 24th April). I will never forget my first encounter with John Barry's music in a live setting. I will remember my seat on the seventh row of the stalls, a perfect vantage point to witness a true musical genius at work. I will remember the shivers that spread down my spine at many points during the performances. I will remember the nice people from Pontefract who I chatted with in the foyer after the hubbub had died down. Until the next one...
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