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Posted: |
Jul 15, 2008 - 10:42 AM
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By: |
Alex Klein
(Member)
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Thanks to Peter Greenhill for letting us know about a wonderful article on John Barry by the Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2008/0614/1213369826737.html
For those too lazy to read, here's a selection of a few surprising comments:
"He has not scored a film since 2001's Enigma, but daily life is not merely a matter of polishing his medals; Barry still composes every morning in this suite of rooms, in the house he shares with his wife Laurie, their teenage son Jonpatrick, and an assortment of cats and dogs. The house is quietly grand, its lawns rolling onto the waters of Long Island's Oyster Bay, and in the composer's rooms the air is heavy with the hum of work, of music and its makings; a desk and a grand piano are neatly stacked with notes and with blank staves, and the walls are lined with photographs and mementoes of the famous faces with whom he has worked, in one way or another, over the years.
"Spring, summer, autumn, winter", read the index cards laid out along a coffee table, a glimpse into his latest project, a concept album called The Seasons, and a sequel of sorts to two other orchestral albums he has released since 1999, The Beyondness of Things and Eternal Echoes, the latter inspired by the book of the same name by the late Irish poet and philosopher John O'Donoghue, to whom Barry was close."
The meditative strains of Eternal Echoes, and of Barry's new project - which, he says, is "a kind of soundtrack", a journey through particular moments of his own life, including moments of his life in film - are far from the zing and throb of the Bond soundtracks; that spiky fling of bass and percussion in From Russia with Love, that growl of pure trouble in Goldfinger, that Vic Flick guitar riff opening the track which Barry orchestrated for the first Bond film, Dr No, in 1962."
So, the new album's title has changed again. Now it's called "The Seasons", and apparently the man composes every day. To avoid extreme language, one could say he still composes on a regular basis. Well, hopefully the music will see the light of day soon. It ain't over 'till it's over!
Alex
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Nice interview. I wouldn't necessarily take than 'composes every day' thing too literally though. It could just be one of those throwaway generaisations. If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's not to take everything that gets said in interviews literally or as gospel.
Cheers
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I tend to agree. After all, we've been hearing about this for ... what, the last two years? (Albeit we didn't know it was going to be called The Seasons.)
Cheers
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Just because an artist retires from professional life does not mean he stops creating art. Even if nothing more is recorded in his lifetime, I'm sure Mr. Barry still writes. You do it because you have to, it's part of who you are.
But now, he does it for the sake of doing it. God bless him.
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I was listening KING KONG last night and I realized it's a really masterpiece. Why this great film music composer is not working on any film? Is that because filmmakers not hire him or is he retired, indeed?
They don't hire him, is reason one. He's not interested in the current way of film making, is reason number two.
I wouldn't consider KK as a masterpiece, btw.
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I was listening KING KONG last night and I realized it's a really masterpiece. Why this great film music composer is not working on any film? Is that because filmmakers not hire him or is he retired, indeed?
They don't hire him, is reason one. He's not interested in the current way of film making, is reason number two.
I wouldn't consider KK as a masterpiece, btw.
A shame don't hire him. But I'm sure if someone approaches him with a good project, he would do it. I think KK is a masterpiece because it's full of motifs and the music is so fresh and creative. Try to read the liner notes on cues and hear the music. You'll find out a gem of creativiness on many cues.
I'm familiar with those notes as I've read them very carefully a long time ago. I have great respect for Stephen Woolston's enthusiams for the subject and his knowledge about John Barry; but those notes are a bit too fanish, from my point of view. I'd rather see him write something about "The Satan Bug". I feel much more comfortable there.
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I'm so tired of reading this shit about how John Barry never gets hired by filmmakers today. I know a filmmaker who worships John Barry. He's directed three features so far -- all of them theatrically released. The first feature even received an Oscar nomination for supporting actor. The director begged John Barry to score that film and Barry passed on it. That was a couple of years ago. Then last year, the same director offered Barry his new film which is one of the higher profile films coming out this fall (has major stars in it). This was after Barry's agent, Richard Kraft, approached him and said Barry would probably love to score the film. The director lobbied hard for Barry with the producers and studio -- got the okay and then sent the script to Barry. Result: Barry passed on it. Later, the director sent an early cut of the film -- it was sent by courier to Barry's house. Barry, to his credit, watched it immediately and, again, passed on it. This is a film that Barry could have brought a lot to and it's an A caliber, awards contender. Another A list composer is currently scoring it right now. I've also heard from other filmmakers who have offered Barry films and he's passed on them as well. He passes on EVERYTHING. This is not the studios or directors or producers not wanting John Barry - this is the man himself deciding not to work.
I personally think he fears studio rejection after the score is composed or just can't bring himself to pull the trigger anymore. The reason I'm writing about this is that I read all the time on this board about how nobody in the business appreciates John Barry anymore. NOT TRUE. He has many admirers - especially amongst filmmakers. You have not heard a new John Barry score since ENIGMA because John Barry has chosen not to compose for film and not the other way around. Maybe he doesn't get as many offers as he used to, but he gets offers and he turns them down - and many of these films are quality productions, not straight to video shit.
I, personally, being a big Barry fan would love to see him score another film. I don't think it's going to happen. But if it does, I will be the first to cheer him on.
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I'm sure Barry has plenty of offers in the mail.
I think if you want an inkling into his mindset at the moment, it's an idea to ponder over his relationship with O'Donoghue. He's at a stage in life where he wants to make sense of it all, where his family have given him more sense of meaning, and where he doesn't need the money, but DOES need to create and to search. Whatever we may say about the validity of filmscoring as an artform, it's still a commercial one, and not necessarily satisfying SPIRITUALLY. He's a searcher, old Barry: you can hear it in the melancholy of his music.
In Miklos Rozsa's autobiography, he too (his children confirm this) says that a composer, or ANY creative artist of any kind should try a little every day. He would compose sometimes a vast amount in a day, at others, just a few bars, but always something. He believed the consistent regularity was a factor, and composed every single day. Why not Barry so?
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