John Barry Pendergast (Nov. 3, 1933-Jan. 30, 2011) British film composer, probably best known for his work on the
James Bond films, where he composed for no fewer than
12 Bond films.
Started out with his own jazz combo "The John Barry Seven" in the late Fifties before getting into film composing when asked to arrange Monty Norman's theme for the first
James Bond movie
Dr. No. Stylistically, Barry's music tends toward the moody side, with extremely limited use of
Fanfare (all but eliminating the brighter instruments in the orchestra in favor of deep undertones and rich, dark melodies). His most popular pieces consist of a lyrical theme accompanied by broken chords with a French horn countermelody. Because his music typically does not include
iconic themes (well, except for
that
one), some have accused his various film scores of being "interchangeable".
John Barry passed away on January 30, 2011 in New York from a heart attack.
Barry created music for:
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